


Inevitable Suffering

by TwilightMaster15



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Attempted Murder, Depression, Despair, Eventual Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Resurrection, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-21 03:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21292640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightMaster15/pseuds/TwilightMaster15
Summary: Shuichi takes Kaede's death much harder than everyone else. Kokichi understood that. What he did not understand was why Kaito decided to hit the Detective for this and break his spirit even more.This was a terrible idea, and he was risking his entire plan to support Shuichi through his grief before it led to things getting out of hand. But he couldn't have everyone dying due to their own stupidity without Shuichi's guidance in class trials. Yeah, that was the only reason he was helping...At least that was what he told himself. But even the infamous liar can't fool himself this time.AU where Shuichi takes Kaede's death harder, and Kokichi is there by his side as the best friend
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 36
Kudos: 286
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. Chapter 1

"What are we gonna do now...?" Himiko was the one to ask this, the question on everyone's minds. And she was right in asking, Kokichi knew this because he was consciously fighting himself to keep the mask up after what he had seen. Kaede's horrific execution. That was the first time he had ever seen someone die before. And like that...

"Y-Yeah," he couldn't stop himself from agreeing with her verbally, and a tear slipped down his cheek, "I'd like to know too...I'm so over this already." Who could like a game where people are forced to kill each other? 

Shuichi had fallen to his knees, and Kokichi saw something had broken inside the Ultimate Detective. Understandable, since he was the closest out of all of them to Kaede. Hell, everyone was crying, so Kokichi let himself cry too. Worst case, he could say it was a lie because he had to keep the facade up, but he could afford to cry right now.

Kaito did not seem to agree.

"Aaargh! Shut up! SHUT! UP! You all need to SHUT UP!!!" Kaito's voice boomed in the air, and the room went silent, "Every single one of you...and your meek little complaints. You're pissing me the hell off!" 

Kokichi's blood started to boil at the Ultimate Astronaut's words. Had he been dropped on his head as a child? They all just watched their friend die a brutal death, and it was only natural that they take some time to process that. Kaede had died less than five minutes ago, and Kaito was telling them not to care?! Meek little complaints his ass!

"But the one who's pissing me off the most...is you, Shuichi!"

Shuichi looked up from where he had been sitting on the floor, hugging himself a little bit and trying not to cry, "...What?"

Without warning, Kaito punched Shuchi, knocking him to the ground even more. 

"Clench your teeth!" 

Kiibo was clearly appalled by what he just saw, as was everybody else. Kokichi could barely process what he had seen Kaito do, "Kaito! You're supposed to say that _ before _ you hit him!"

Kaito wasn't listening to them, still glaring at the downed Shuichi, "Didn't you hear what Kaede said?! She said she believed in you!" He yelled, "That she passed her wish onto you! But what the hell's wrong with you?! You didn't say a damn thing to Monokuma! You call yourself a man!?!?" Shuichi was silent, other than quiet weeping, Kokichi saw the Detective's spirit breaking more and more by the second, but this only angered Kaito, "Damnit, what's the matter? Say something already! Dumbass, I just hit you! Aren't you pissed off?! What's your problem?!" 

And Kokichi saw _red_. 

Unable to take it anymore, he lunged at Kaito and punched him to the ground and kicked him in the ribs.

"How dare you?!" He growled, doing his best to put on a mask of malice, but really there was nothing but uncontrollable rage coursing through his entire small body, "Our friend just _ died _ a sickening death right in front of us, and you're calling him weak? Is your masculinity really so fragile as you need to put down those who express their emotions?!" 

"He's right," Tenko said, "Suckerpunching is pretty low, Kaito, even for a degenerate male like you. You better knock it off!"

Tsumugi bent down beside Shuichi, "Shuichi, are you okay?" Shuchi looked up, and Kokichi saw a broken man in there. This only made him press harder on Kaito's chest with his shoe,

"Kokichi, enough," Kirumi said softly, but her tone brooked no argument, "Fighting between us won't help anyone, and goes against Kaede's final request." 

"Please stop," Kiibo added on, "This sort of altercation is a waste of time." And that added onto Kokichi's anger,

"Of course," he snapped, grateful that the robot had said something to let him put the mask back on, "Trust a heartless robot to see kicking a downed man as okay." 

"Hey!" Kiibo snapped, but Kokichi ignored everyone except Maki,

"Can we leave now?" She asked, "Staying here will only make us more depressed." Kiyo laughed a little bit, but there was doubtfully any true humor to it,

"Well put. I agree wholeheartedly." 

Kokichi nodded, helping Shuichi up, "Come on," he said softly, "I'll help you back to your room." He gently guided Shuichi back to the bedrooms, since the Detective seemed to be in some form of shock.

When they arrived in Shuichi's room, Kokichi went in search of some pajamas, and tenderly helped him into the new clothing. Nighttime was getting close, so there was no harm.

"Hey, don't listen to Kaito. He's a prick who's too afraid to confront his own feelings."

"I killed her..." Shuichi exhaled, "She trusted my detective work...what if there's no mastermind? She died for nothing." He wept, and Kokichi hugged him soothingly.

"It's not your fault. For what it's worth, I believe that there is a mastermind too." He stroked Shuichi's hair, humming quietly. He reminded himself that he needed to pretend to be a lying asshole, but right now, he couldn't bring himself to care. And besides, maybe Shuichi could help him execute a final plan to take down the mastermind once and for all. That, and he also _really_ needed Shuichi to use his talent to solve the murders, since everyone else was too stupid to do it without him.

They sat in silence other than Shuichi's quiet sobs and Kokichi's humming until Shuchi drifted restlessly into the realm of slumber.

The Ultimate Supreme Leader smiled sadly, tucking Shuichi into bed. He went to leave, only to see Shuichi holding his hand still. He gave in with a humorless chuckle,

"Alright, Saihara-chan, I'll stay."


	2. Chapter 2

Kokichi woke up to the sound of Shuichi's doorbell ringing. He looked to where Shuichi was sleeping. He seemed to have drained himself so much yesterday that he slept through the doorbell. _Good._

The doorbell went off again, and Kokichi growled as Shuichi started to stir. He got up and opened the door,

"Shuichi is sleeping, what is it—oh. Hello Kaito. What do you want?"

"What are you two doing?" Kaito asked, "It's already morning!"

"There's this magical thing, Kaito, called sleeping. Himiko's the lazy magician around here, so go ask her about the wonders of sleep." Kokichi muttered bitterly, crossing his arms and ensuring his body language showed he had no plans of letting the Astronaut into Shuichi's room to hurt him further. "Do you need anything?"

"Well, yeah, food! I was gonna eat breakfast in the dining hall, but you and Shuichi weren't there. That's why I came to get Shuichi."

"And why, pray tell, should I let you go near him when not even twelve hours ago you hit him and cut him down even further."

"And why should a liar like you care?" Kokichi gave Kaito one of his creepy smiles,

"I  _ am _ the supreme leader of evil, you're right, but there is a difference between evil and douche." Kaito clenched his fists, but a scream stopped him from doing anything. 

Kokichi didn't bother to close the door and saw Shuichi run into the small bathroom attached to his bedroom and start vomiting in the toilet.

He rubbed figure-eights comfortably on Shuichi's back.

"Just let it out, I'm right here." Shuichi heaved into the toilet again, eventually calming down and crying in Kokichi's arms. "Shh...Saihara-chan, deep breaths. In your nose, out your mouth. Copy me,"

Shuichi copied him, relaxing after a moment. Kokichi wiped Shuichi's mouth and helped him back into bed,

"Kaito, if you want to be useful, ask Kirumi to make him so broth and light toast, and get some water." Shuichi looked up at Kokichi,

"It's okay...I don't usually eat breakfast anyway, and I'm really not hungry."

Kaito was clearly shocked, "A-Are you serious? If you don't have breakfast, what do you eat in the morning? Whatever. Come on, you two, let's get going. The others are waiting."

"I just want to lay back down," Shuichi muttered, "I feel sick." Kokichi nodded,

"Yeah, he should rest, especially since he got sick. Kaito, are you gonna be useful, or do I need to do it?" Kaito frowned,

"You shouldn't hide in here all day. That's just cowardly." And then he got thrown out on his ass by Kokichi,

"He. Is. Sick. Get that through your thick skull. And do I need to give you a friendly reminder of what happened yesterday? He needs a day or so to cope, and that's fine." He looked to where Kirumi had just walked into the area, "Kirumi! Saihara-chan just threw up! Can you please bring him up some light broth and toast for breakfast." 

"Of course." Kirumi nodded, "I'll also bring some water, and anything else Shuichi might need." 

"Thanks, Kirumi." 

_ Stop it, Kokichi,  _ he scolded himself,  _ you need to be an ungrateful lying brat. Don't say please, and stop being nice.  _

He ignored the voice in his head. After all, Shuichi needed to be mentally and physically at his best, or they would all die. He could easily say he wasn't so encouraging of the killing game because it wouldn't be interesting if they all got executed since Shuichi was under the weather. Yeah, that was the lie he'd use.

Kaito sighed, "Kokichi, can I talk to Shuichi for a moment? I need to apologize for yesterday. As much as I hate to say it, you were right." 

Kokichi softened, "Fine. But if you hurt him, you'll see what a supreme leader of evil can do." He let Kaito in, who sat bedside with Shuichi, 

"Hey... I-I'm sorry about yesterday. Y'know, for slugging you like that." Shuichi looked up at him with a sad expression,

"Huh? Oh...it's okay..." He hid his face behind his hat, curled into a ball. Kokichi waiting impatiently for Kirumi to arrive, thanking her when she came up with food, rubber gloves, a bucket, some anti-nausea tablets, clean sheets, and some extra food for Kokichi himself.

"Wow. This is way more than I asked for."

"Well, you also doubtfully know how to handle someone ill. If you request it, I am happy to help you take care of Shuichi."

"It's fine." Shuichi said from the bed, "You guys don't need to do so much for me."

"Nonsense," Kaito chirped, too happy for Kokichi's liking, but he wasn't going to complain since the Astronaut wasn't giving Shuichi crap anymore, "We've all decided we should eat together. So make sure to get better quickly, because we all miss you." Kokichi could tell he was referring to not vomiting when he said 'get better' and wasn't referring to getting over emotional trauma, which was why he didn't throw Kaito out again.

"Shuichi, can you get up so I can change the sheets?" Kirumi asked, and Shuichi got up,

"I'm not sick, I just had a really bad nightmare." 

"You're sure?" Kaito asked, and Shuichi nodded,

"Yeah. I don't think I'm gonna..." Kirumi shrugged,

"Alright, then. Better to be safe than sorry, though. Do you want me to get some sheets for Kokichi to stay with you?"

"Sure." Shuichi shrugged, as though he didn't care. So Kirumi made a bed on the couch for Kokichi, and put his breakfast of an Italian omelet and buttermilk pancakes on the table, also giving him a grape panta.

"Kirumi, be my mom!" Kokichi said excitedly, gleefully enjoying his drink. Kirumi rolled her eyes, looking to Shuichi,

"If you need anything at all, you just have to ask."

"Yeah...thanks, Kirumi." When she and Kaito left, Kokichi turned to Shuichi, who wasn't touching his toast or broth. He got up and sat on the bed, grabbing a spoon,

"You need  _ something _ in your stomach. I'm not asking you to eat the pancakes, just drink some broth or take a couple bites of toast."

Shuichi was silent, pulling his blanket tighter around him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Decency. Why?"

"No offense...but I didn't see you as the type." Kokichi put a hand to his chest,

"I am offended, Saihara-chan!" At Shuichi's guilty look, Kokichi gave a carefree grin, "But that's a lie! I understand perfectly why you'd think that." Shuichi sighed in relief, then sighed, 

"You really don't need to sit around with me." Kokichi shrugged,

"Nobody out there would miss me, and I don't think I should leave you alone. Look, I'm gonna give you a couple days, but how about in...say...two days, try coming out and talking to people." Shuichi smiled a little bit, but it didn't reach his grey eyes,

"You're not who you want people to think you are." Kokichi's stomach dropped, and he quickly tried to put the mask back up, but Shuichi's stare told him that he'd been caught, and there was no turning back. 

"When you're in a killing game, trust will get you killed. And I would rather not feel the same pain you're feeling right now. Besides, I have a grand plan to defeat the mastermind, and the more people hating me, the better. But that's a lie!"

"Kokichi, don't!" Kokichi's brow furrowed at the terrified look on Shuichi's face and, having his shoulders gripped painfully, "Don't make a plan to defeat the mastermind. You'll just..." he broke down, and Kokichi realized he probably shouldn't have tried to put the mask back on. He sighed,

"Sorry...that was too soon." Shuichi bit his lip, still trying to control his breathing,

"Don't go after the mastermind...not yet. Not until we know exactly who it is." Kokichi sighed,

"Alright. But remember: we won't know who the mastermind is if you stay in here all the time." Shuichi nodded, his breathing much calmer,

"H-How about this...I will  _ try _ to mingle with the others, and you need to drop the liar facade. We can fulfill Kaede's wish to end the killing game if we work together. You're smart, Kokichi, and I think we can defeat Monokuma much faster as allies instead of enemies."

_ Crap. Saihara-chan's seen through me and is gonna ruin my entire plan! Even if I don't agree, he'll start calling me out! What do I do?! _

"So basically, you're asking me to be your emotional support clown?" Shuichi raised an eyebrow,

"Uh..."

"I'm joking." 

"Oh." Shuichi held out a hand, "So, are we at an agreement?" Kokichi sucked in a breath. Maybe Shuichi was right... perhaps he could find the mastermind and put an end to the killing game if he was the Ultimate Detective's ally.

He sighed, taking Shuichi's hand, and using his other hand to put the broth in Shuichi's face,

"And now you better drink the broth."

He could tell Shuichi just wanted to curl up in a ball and be left alone, and that was why he had tried to use Kokichi dropping the facade as his term. The agreement they had made was going to be excruciating for both of them. 

This was just to get Shuichi back on his feet. Once Shuichi was better, Kokichi would go back to keeping the mask up. Everything would continue according to plan.

But he felt sick with himself almost instantly for even thinking that. 


	3. Chapter 3

The two days were both going by at lightning speed and slow as hell at the same time.

They had quickly confirmed the cause of the vomiting was nightmares. Every time Shuichi slept, he managed to get about four hours before waking up in a cold sweat and unloading the contents of his stomach. He wasn't actually sick.

Kokichi hadn't left Shuichi's side once, because Kirumi came to get them what they needed at two-hour intervals. Kokichi spent this time trying to help Shuichi, either by acting like this was just an extended sleepover, or reading novels aloud, as a distraction.

According to Kirumi, Miu thought they were doing something dirty, but everyone else was seeing Kokichi in a different light. He wouldn't have liked that initially, but Shuichi was happy when he heard that, and that brought a smile to his face.

And it had been three days since Kaede and Rantaro's deaths. It was still continually hanging over both their heads, but the idea of them being allies to end the killing game gave them both a shred of hope. But Kokichi still needed to remind Shuichi to eat and shower.

When Kokichi woke up, he frowned. Frequently he was woken by Shuichi's scream from a nightmare or the sound of him trying to get to the bathroom, but this time it was a quiet creaking sound that roused him.

"Hm?" At first, he feared it was someone trying to kill him or Shuichi, so he grabbed a heavy book from the nightstand and went to hit whoever had come in, only to see it was Monodam. "Monodam?"

"WHAT-ARE-YOU-DOING-AWAKE?" Monodam asked, "IT-IS-WELL-PAST-NIGHTTIME." 

"Call it killing game paranoia." He noticed two tablets in the small robotic bear's grip, "Whatcha got there?" 

"MOTIVE-VIDEOS. I-HEARD-YOU-STAY-IN-HERE, SO-I BROUGHT-YOURS-HERE. IT-IS-WONDERFUL-HOW-YOU-AND-SHUICHI-GET-ALONG." Monodam handed him the two tablets and left.

Kokichi frowned at them, "Motive videos?" He went into the closet and turned them on, seeing Kaito's grandparents, and Tenko's about something happening to her Master.

It took a grand total of two seconds for him to realize the motives being switched up had not been intentional.

He pondered this. He doubted Kiibo would allow the others to give each other their motive, but in Kokichi's mind, it made sense for them to have a sort of motive screening party. That way, anyone with a genuine motivation to kill could be watched. And then it might give Shuichi a reason outside of their agreement to try getting better: not a reason to kill, but a reason to live.

But to pull off this plan, he'd have to be a liar. And that wasn't good. He'd consult Shuichi about it when he woke up.

"KAEDE, PLEASE DON'T!  _ PLEASE _ !" 

_ Well, that was fast. _

He heard the sounds of Shuichi sprinting into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Kokichi worried the Detective would accidentally slip into bulimia at this rate, with how he kept hurling up whatever he ate.

He walked into the bathroom, using the same routine of comforting hugs to help calm Shuichi down. It worked, and Shuichi looked up at him,

"Sorry. Did I wake you again?"

"Nah. Monodam did. He gave me these motive videos, but I'm confident he meant to give us our own." 

Shuichi watched the videos, nodding a little bit, "You have a plan?"

"Yeah. If we can get the others to watch their motives together, we can keep track of those who seem like they could kill. I'm hoping that if you could agree with me that I might not have to be sadistic. If all else fails, I can manipulate Gonta into kidnapping everyone so I can go steal the videos."

"Don't do that. I'm on board with your plan that doesn't involve lying.  _ My _ plan in case all else fails is to say I want to watch it for motivation to keep going, which is not entirely a lie."

Kokichi nodded, "Oh, and I'm thinking I should change my talent if I'm gonna be nicer to everyone. Ultimate Supreme Leader just...doesn't fit who I really am. I'm thinking...Ultimate Prankster?" Shuichi chuckled,

"I actually like that. Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Prankster. Has a nice ring to it." Kokichi nodded, opening the door and seeing the sun was up, "Come on, Saihara-chan, let's surprise everyone." He grinned, and Shuichi smiled a little bit, getting out of his pajamas and into his uniform.

"Remember, no lying."

"I remember," Kokichi muttered, grabbing the motive videos and walking to the dining hall, where Tsumugi, Himiko, Kirumi, and Angie were already there.

"Shuichi!" Angie cheered, "How lovely it is to see you out of bed. Atua was starting to grow worried for you." Shuichi hid his face with his hat still and sat down to eat, his eyes widening as he tasted Kirumi's cooking, which was the first solid food other than rice and toast that he'd had in three days,

"Woah, Kirumi, this is amazing." 

The others came in not long after, and Korekiyo noticed the tense atmosphere.

"You're in a panic? Over the Kubs pads, I assume." Kokichi nodded, sitting in a chair, relaxed, much more relaxed than he would have let himself be in a different circumstance,

"Yeah. Saihara-chan and I have an idea!" Kiibo sent Kokichi an odd look, probably because of how open he was being. 

"And what is this idea?"

"To have a motive video screening party!" He said happily, "Because that way, all motives will be out in the open, no secrets, and anyone suspicious we can keep an eye on." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kirumi tense, "And since it seems the videos were distributed at random, it is possibly one of us got their own. Or blackmail could lead to murder. Or desire to know their own motive could lead to murder."

"That's actually a fair point." Ryoma said, to Kokichi's surprise, "I know I want to see mine. They're the videos of the most important people in our lives." 

"No." Kiibo ordered, "We will not show or exchange them. We can't give anyone any motive."

"Which is exactly why we should show them off!" Miu snapped, and Kokichi was really surprised by how smoothly this was going. 

"That's true," Tenko said, "But if we ignore them, then we won't have a motive." Kokichi glared, about to verbally destroy her and her idiocy, and how she probably wasn't listening due to her own sexism. However, Shuichi squeezed his hand subtly as though assuring him, there was another way. He took a deep breath,

"Even if that's not the case for you, Tenko, it could be for others."

"Like me." Ryoma said, "I fully agree with Kokichi and Shuichi. I want a motive."

Kaito looked down at Ryoma, "You were saying something like that a couple days ago. That you don't plan on surviving. It might not matter to you whether you get killed or not, but we're different! We all want to live!"

"I don't..."

That small voice brought silence to the room, and they all turned to Shuichi.

"I agree with Ryoma. I don't want to watch the video to get a reason to kill, but I want a reason to live. To not let myself be collateral damage and focus on getting out with you all. That's why I want to see my video."

Kaito sighed, looking to Shuichi and Ryoma, "Both of you, wake up already! Both of you have been zombies with no will to live."

"No will to live, huh?" Ryoma muttered bitterly, "If that's how you see us, then so be it. But I've got no plans to change my opinion. That's just not cool."

"Kaito," Maki warned, "Judging by the look on Kokichi's face right now, you are very quickly creating a reason for murder. I personally am against having my motive video shown, but I understand the thought process behind this."

"Are you trying to cause trouble, Kokichi?" Kiibo asked, and Kokichi shrugged, 

"I actually wasn't entirely honest with you all. My real talent is Ultimate Prankster. My video will probably say Supreme Leader, but Prankster suits me much better. And I'm not trying to cause trouble, I'm trying to fulfill Kaede's wish and end the killing game. What better way than to make sure we know who might be a murderer." 

"Ultimate Prankster?" Maki looked at him, "I can certainly place that easier than Supreme Leader." 

"Yup! So what do you guys say?"

"I cannot comprehend your logic," Kiibo said, and Shuichi spoke up, 

"All in favor of seeing motives together as a group, raise your hand,"

All except Korekiyo, Kirumi, Maki, and Kiibo raised their hands. Some more reluctant than others.

And so, after breakfast, they all sat down and watched the motive videos.

By the end of it, all the girls had moved far away from Korekiyo, and everyone except Kaito avoided Maki.

"An assassin?!" Tenko asked in horror, "She's the most suspicious!" 

"I actually don't think so," Shuichi said, "Because it stated in the video that she became an assassin to save the orphanage, so I don't think she's a stone-cold killer. However...Kaito, I want you and Maki to be paired together, be on Maki-watch."

"What?!" Kaito asked, "Why? We can trust her! I know it!"

"And I don't doubt you," Shuichi said, "But Tenko's reaction proves that while she might not attack us, someone might attack  _ her _ out of fear, and she may become the blackened in self-defense."

"Ah," Kaito brightened, "I understand. Looks like it's gonna be you and me, Maki Roll!" 

Shuichi looked to Kirumi, "As noble as your motive is, your excelency, I am sorry to say you must also be on the watchlist. But remember, we will all get out of here together, and that has a higher chance of success than murder." Kirumi nodded,

"I understand. Who am I to be paired with?" Angie raised her hand,

"You and I are working together to get Himiko's magic show up and running! You and I can be paired together."

"And can we all agree Korekiyo needs to be watched?" Tenko asked, and they all looked to the serial killer that was Korekiyo, who was shaking. Kokichi nodded,

"Definitely. Um..Keeboy! You do it." Kiibo shrugged,

"Fine." 

"And I knew it!" Kaito said, "I knew you weren't an evil supreme leader." Kokichi shrugged,

"Oh no, I've been caught." Shuichi chuckled,

"You weren't actually joking when you said you were my emotional support clown, were you?" 

"No, I wasn't." He looked to where Ryoma was sharing at the floor in horror. He hugged the Ultimate Tennis Pro, "The video said it was under construction, that means it's not complete yet. There's still hope." He stood up, "So are we all gonna go our separate ways and meet up for dinner and then the magic show tomorrow morning?" Nods from everyone, leaving Shuichi and Kokichi alone.

"Wow." Kokichi said, "That went  _ much _ smoother than I thought."

"You did it, Kokichi! You were showing your true self." Shuichi brightened, "Maybe you are the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Because you sure took control of the situation." Kokichi shrugged,

"Maybe I am. And you saw that your uncle is waiting for you, so you have reason to work with us. Speaking of which, do you want to investigate the mastermind further?" Shuichi nodded, and they went to the library. His eyes widened when they looked at the place Rantaro's body had been found. Kaede's trap was still high above. Kokichi frowned,

"Hey..." he remembered precisely where Rantaro's body had been, and he looked to Shuichi, "Saihara-chan, I want you to lay..." he laid down on the ground where Rantaro had been, "Right here. Okay?" Shuichi nodded and laid on the ground, and Kokichi's eyes widened, as he grabbed a ladder and a bright marker, creating a path from the trap to the ground, noticing that where the blood splatter and Rantaro's body had been was not where the shot put would have landed. He traced around Shuichi, and the two walked to grab another shot-put ball.

"What are you doing, Kokichi?" Shuichi asked, and Kokichi frowned, 

"Okay, I'm going to throw the shot put down the vent. I want you to tell me exactly where it lands in the library, alright?" Shuichi nodded, going down to the library, and Kokichi tossed the ball down the vent, heading back to Shuichi, who had horrified wide eyes at the ball on the ground.

"It didn't hit where Rantaro would have been..." he was shaking, "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"That Kaede was murdered wrongfully, and the mastermind was the true killer? Yes, I think it does." He saw something snap in the Detective,

"The mastermind framed Kaede. She wasn't a murderer!"

"Saihara-chan, don't do anything rash. We need more evidence before we can demand a retrial or use this to confront the mastermind. Now we know what happened, and we can assume the mastermind came out of the hidden door, but we can't get in, so we don't know for sure yet."

Shuichi nodded, but Kokichi knew this was far from over. He looked to his small friend, "What made you suspect this?"

"Miu's sketches. The pathway looked like it would have just missed Rantaro, and I wanted to test it." He smiled, "Wanna look for more evidence?" But Shuichi was already storming off in search of clues, throwing off his hat, which Kokichi picked up off the ground,

"I'm gonna keep this hat. It's cute." He put the hat on and followed an enraged Ultimate Detective in search of more clues.

OoOoO

Neither Kokichi or Shuichi slept that night, searching relentlessly for clues on how to get into the mastermind's assumed lair. They were also going over everyone's story for where they had been and had told them all about the mastermind's deceit, which had caused terror in them all that they could be wrongfully thrown under the bus. 

Angie ran up to Shuichi, who had been talked into taking a break for the magic show, "Welcome to our magic show! Whaddya think? Isn't it divine!"

"Yeah, it is." Shuichi said, genuinely interested, "Did you and Himiko set this up?"

"No, no. This would have been impossible with just two people. I got others to help us. Kaito and Kiibo carried equipment from Himiko's research lab, and even Korekiyo helped at some points. I designed the stage, and Kirumi sewed the curtains..." Angie went on, and Kokichi got bored, instead deciding to go see Himiko, who was shaking,

"Himiko? What is it? Are you nervous?"

"J-J-Just a little bit!" Himiko got out, "Cuz, the magic I'll be performing today is extreme water magic: underwater escape act! I've never successfully cast it before, so I'm a little nervous." Kokichi nodded,

"Sounds impressive. You know, I do a little magic too." Himiko looked up,

"You do?" In response, Kokichi put a hand behind Himiko's ear, and then pulled back, showing there was now a coin in his hand. Himiko brightened visibly, "You do!" 

"Maybe after we get out of this place, you could show me some more tricks." He took her hat off and put it on himself, "Ultimate Prankster and Ultimate Wizard, how fun." 

"Don't go stealing my talent," Himiko snapped, but she was giggling, "But I'd love to show you some spells." 

"Go amaze us, Himiko." He encouraged, giving her her hat back, and sitting in his seat, giving her a thumbs up. Maybe Shuichi was right about being his true self... and now that he had allies and evidence, he hoped the mastermind could be taken down by the end of the week.

He saw Tenko go over to Himiko, begging her to reconsider, and only then did Kokichi notice the piranhas and the time limit. 

Shuichi sat down next to him, "Do you think something's gonna go wrong?"

"I hope not. Did Angie reveal anything suspicious?"

"Only that Korekiyo was helping. And he might have done something to send another 'friend to sister.' That was the only worrisome thing, though, and multiple people were keeping an eye on him."

"Good." 

Angie gave them an introduction to the show, and Kokichi frowned when he heard the time limit was five minutes. Little odd, but he supposed she would want more time for her first attempt.

So they waited for a bit, perfectly cheerful, but once it got down to the final twenty seconds, everyone was worried, and Gonta got up onto the stage,

"Aw, you can't do that!" Angie shouted, "We're still in the middle of the show!"

"But..if Gonta do nothing, piranhas will eat Himiko!" 

Just as he said that the piranhas were released into the tank, and Tenko ran to the tank,

"Hurry! The curtains! Open the curtains already!"

"Got it!" Angie said, "I'm opening it now!" She opened the curtains...

Just in time to see Himiko eaten by piranhas.

Kokichi's eyes were wide as he observed the sickening sight, and he found himself hugging Shuichi and burying his face in his friend's chest, unable to watch anymore.

The body discovery announcement started playing, and Kokichi fought every ounce of his body that had him wanting to sob.

Shuichi was stunned, and Kaito and Maki ran to him,

"What happened—OH NO!" Kaito took a couple steps back, "What the...Himiko?!"

"HIMIKOOOOO!" Tenko shrieked, and Gonta tried to comfort her.

"W-We...we should break the tank, right?" Kokichi forced out, "We gotta check what's inside. Gonta, use Kiibo like a battering ram." Tenko helped Gonta throw Kiibo. The crashing sound was intense. A wall of piranhas and water dyed red with blood rushed out. Everyone watched helplessly as the ground was flooded.

After a moment to process this, they all worked together to start cleaning up, and Kiibo got all of Himiko's possessions in a pile. Tenko took Himiko's hat and sobbed as she breathed in the scent of the hat, the only intact thing left of Himiko.

With Kirumi's expertise, they were able to quickly clean up and start investigating.

Gonta looked to the piranhas he had put in a bucket, and Miu shuddered,

"Today, Himiko is fish food. Tomorrow, she'll be fish shit." 

"How dare you?!" Tenko roared, kicking the Inventor to the ground, "Himiko was so much more than that!"

"Was this an accident?" Maki asked, "Because something tells me the killing game has started again."

"Seeing as Maki is the Ultimate Assassin," Kirumi said, "I feel as though we can trust her."

Kokichi broke down, "How...how could this happen!? We...swore to each other, didn't we? We vowed to not let the killing game start again! So that was just a lie?! You guys are liars! All you liars, apologize to Himiko!" He gestured to the skeleton, "She believed the killing wouldn't start up again!"

Monokuma appeared, "Hey guys, it looks like you have a second murder victim on your hands!"

"Shut up and give us the thingy!" Kokichi snapped, unable to look at the bear for even a second. Monokuma stared at him curiously,

"You mean the Monokuma file, right? I also investigated the cause of death this time, so read it to your heart's delight." The bear left, and Korekiyo shrugged,

"In any event, let's begin the investigation. I'm assuming those of us who were on the watchlist will simply remain with their partner, and Shuichi will be partners with Kokichi."

"Yup." Kaito said, "Come on, Maki Roll!"

"Don't call me that." 

...

The mastermind panicked a little bit. Kokichi was ruining everything! He was too smart for the killing game, and it wouldn't be long before he exposed everything!

Something had to be done to make sure Kokichi didn't live long after this trial, and it had to be done fast...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you all think killed Himiko? Was it an accident? Was it murder? Only one way to find out!
> 
> (Also, I'm in desperate need of executions. I have a couple, but I need new ones since there will be new blackened in some cases. So give me suggestions.)


	4. Chapter 4

Shuichi and Kokichi decided to first investigate the tank itself, to see how the magic trick was supposed to be performed because that would be a considerable step to figuring out what happened. 

"Okay." Kokichi looked at the Monokuma File, "According to this, Himiko drowned. She wasn't killed by the piranhas. So that means we need to figure out why the trick failed, and why it was set to five minutes. If I were doing the trick like this, I'd use piranhas that only eat dead flesh, like these ones seem to be, and only have the timer for _ one _ minute."

"It was Himiko's idea," Angie chimed in, "She said she wanted more time just in case all else failed. I assured her that it was a fine idea, and Atua would protect her." Kokichi said Shuichi take note of Angie's account, and they examined the tank, and Shuichi frowned at a particular spot on the tank, where there was a square-shaped outline. 

"Hm..." he walked around to where the staircase was and saw hinges that revealed a door inside the stairs, "Kokichi, you're smaller than me. Can you get in there and look for a hatch or something?" 

Kokichi obeyed and quickly found the hatch, but it was pushing from in the stairs, meaning there was no way to open it from inside the tank.

"Well, that explains how it happened." Kokichi said, "Saihara-chan? Any ideas?" Shuichi nodded,

"Korekiyo, Kaito, and Kiibo were helping build the stage, and Angie designed it and mentioned she helped build part of it too."

"Alright, I'm thinking we talk to Kiyo and Kiibo first. What do you think?" Shuichi nodded,

"Yeah, I agree. Come on," he helped Kokichi out of the staircase, and they went to search for Korekiyo. It turned out he hadn't been allowed to do anything other than help Kirumi with putting the piranhas in the tank and putting up curtains. Kiibo and helped Kaito with building the overall base, and Angie was in charge of making the 'magic' part.

And thus, Angie became the prime suspect. 

Kokichi frowned as he thought about it, "Monokuma!" Monokuma appeared,

"Yes?"

"What happens if the murder is accidental?" Monokuma shrugged,

"Same as if it was self-defense or intentional. It's still murder." 

"Ah, so Angie's probably the culprit." 

"Are we sure it's not Kirumi?" Kiibo asked, "Because she is the Prime Minister, after all."

"No...she was only in charge of the curtains, and multiple people were watching her. She has an alibi."

"Alright then," Korekiyo said, "If you don't mind, I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be back in five minutes." He left, and Shuichi went in search of Maki, with Kokichi following.

According to Maki, Himiko likely drowned within three minutes. 

"Good insight!" Kaito said, clapping her on the back, "I knew I picked a good sidekick." He looked to Shuichi and Kokichi, "Say, Maki Roll and I have started training during nighttime. Do you two want to join us?" Kokichi shrugged,

"Maybe, but I feel we should finish up with the class trial first." Suddenly, Kiibo ran up to them,

"Guys! It's Korekiyo!"

"What?" Maki asked, "Did he get away?"

"N-No..." Kiibo shook his head, "Come on...this isn't pretty." They all followed the robot into the boy's bathroom and gasped at the sight of Korekiyo with his head bashed in, a bloody baseball bat next to him.

The body discovery announcement played, and Monokuma appeared,

"Wow! A third murder victim, _ damn _, you guys are bloodthirsty."

"So does that mean there's a second blackened?" Shuichi asked, "And we have to find both?"

"No, actually." Monokuma said, "It's first come, first serve. Only Himiko's murder shall be investigated. So basically, the culprit who killed Korekiyo will get nothing out of it."

"So, we should just leave his body here?!" Kokichi asked, letting himself cry, "I thought we weren't going to kill anymore!" he wailed.

"Oma-Kun," Shuichi assured, "We'll figure out who did it." They went to look for more evidence, trying their best not to think about Kiyo's corpse, but Shuichi froze, "Kokichi...what if this doesn't work? What if the killing still happens, even if we work hard to defeat the mastermind? What if everything we're trying to do...what if it's all for nothing." 

Kokichi sighed, "I don't know what will happen then. But we have each other, and I'm sure we'll be able to defeat the mastermind."

The alert went off that they were out of time, and Kokichi held Shuichi's hand, "Come on, Saihara-chan, let's go reveal some murderers."

"I don't want to watch Punishment Time..."

"You think I do?" Kokichi plastered on a fake smile, but he knew the Detective saw right through it, "Just...do your best not to look. If it comes down to it, I'll cover your eyes."

They met up with the others and then went to their respective podium, where Shuichi hesitantly revealed everything he knew, but Kokichi helped him on some parts when he grew quiet due to his nerves.

Tenko had a nervous expression, "S-So Korekiyo wasn't the culprit?" 

"Nyahaha!" Angie was praying, "But Atua tells me Kiyo was the culprit."

"Here's the thing, Angie," Kokichi crossed his arms, "I don't think that's the case at all. Because you were in charge of creating the hatch to the tank."

"Himiko didn't use a hatch!" Tenko yelled, "She was going to use magic!"

"If she were using magic, she wouldn't be dead." Maki refuted, "And according to Gonta, he saw her in the tank, right where the hatch was placed."

"Yes. Gonta saw that," Gonta announced, "Gonta wondered why she was so still. Looking back, that was Gonta's last chance to save Himiko. G-Gonta, so sorry!" He started crying, and Tsumugi sent him a sympathetic smile,

"It wasn't your fault, Gonta, how could you have known?" 

"Anyway, Kokichi's right." Shuichi said, "Kirumi, Angie was working on the hatch, correct?"

"Yes. And now that I think about it, Angie was the one to tell Himiko that Atua said the trick should be five minutes."

"Well, that settles it then, right?" Kaito asked, "Angie's the culprit, and that's that? We can solve Korekiyo's case next, but I want to get this out of the way first."

It was so simple, Kokichi mused. A little too simple for his liking. But then again, there were multiple accounts of seeing Angie working, and nobody could have worked during nighttime. 

"Fine. Vote for me if you wish," Angie said, "But Atua shall unleash his holy wrath upon you all."

"Yeah...I'm voting for Angie." Kiibo said, "Anyone else?" Nods from everyone and Monokuma started the vote.

"Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one!" Everyone voted, and it showed all votes for Angie, except one for Korekiyo and one of Kirumi.

They all got off their podium and heard Monokuma announce, "Wow! That was the fastest class trial _ ever _! And you are correct! The culprit who killed Himiko Yumero is none other than Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist!" 

"Wait," Kokichi crossed his arms, "I thought she was the Ultimate Missionary." Shuichi gave him a nod that implied he had been thinking the same thing.

"Angie...why?" Tenko asked, furious, "Himiko was your friend!"

"Simple," Angie said in a carefree manner, not caring at all, "Atua has spoken. I must escape this place and show others his divine influence. Himiko was a sacrifice to the wonderful god. She is with Atua now."

"That's...evil!" Tenko roared, and Kokichi shrugged,

"According to Kiyo, when I asked him back when the killing game first started, sacrifice to the gods is actually very normal in religious cultures." Tenko whirled around and punched Kokichi in the face,

"Shut up, you degenerate male! Monokuma, can you start with Punishment Time already?" Kokichi saw Shuichi visibly tense and gave his friend's hand a comforting squeeze, ignoring the pain he was pretty sure would become a black eye. He could also tell Shuichi was debating hitting Tenko, but it was Maki who sent everyone a glare that said "fight, I dare you,"

Monokuma was bounding up and down with glee, "Let's give it everything we've got! It's PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Angie had her hands together in prayer, "I will be with you soon, Atua."

Game Over

Angie had been found guilty.

Time for the Punishment.

Angie's execution opened up with her on a stage in front of an audience full of Monokumas, strung up like a puppet. At the center lay a huge blank sketchbook pushed up against the wall with a paintbrush on the ground. What was unique about this paintbrush was that the grip was carved sharply and could be used as a blade.

The show began with Monokuma forcing Angie into picking up the paintbrush and forcing her to create her ultimate painting: a picture that depicts Atua. Using the sharp end of the paintbrush, Angie stabbed herself in the stomach, and an extensive trail of blood began to flow out of her wound. Monokuma then forced Angie into using the blood from her body as a form of paint to start painting Atua. Whenever the "paint" dried out from her brush, Monokuma forced Angie into stabbing a different section of her body and using that blood as the next substitute for paint material.

By the end of the execution, Monokuma cut the strings connecting Angie, and her body flopped onto the surface of the stage, bloodied and covered in multiple stab wounds. Everyone's eyes slowly rose from her lifeless body to her painting of Atua, which revealed nothing but a bunch of messy blood splotches that nobody could identify, symbolizing the fact Atua wasn't real.

The sketchbook started to fall forward, and Monodam shoved Monosuke under it, crushing him alongside Angie's body.

When the execution was over, Shuichi was pale and swaying dangerously, and fainted in Kokichi's arms. Kaito looked on worriedly, not angry or violent this time,

"Is he...?"

"He shouldn't have had to watch that. I'm not tall enough to have covered his eyes." Kokichi said, "Gonta, can you please carry him back to his room. I'm not strong enough."

"Gonta is glad to help," Gonta cradled Shuichi in his arms, carrying him bridal style back to his room.

Kirumi helped get Shuichi comfortable on his bed, "Should I assume tomorrow he'll be back in here for the day?"

"Maybe. Better to be safe than sorry," Kokichi said, "Thanks, Kirumi. And thank you too, Gonta, for bringing him up here."

"It was the gentleman's thing to do." Gonta said, "Goodnight, Kokichi." He and Kirumi left, and Kokichi smiled sadly at Shuichi's sleeping form,

"Well, Saihara-chan, you did it. You unveiled the truth. Don't feel back about it, Angie was a delusional nutjob." He caressed Shuichi's cheek, before recoiling as he realized what he was doing, "We're gonna get out of here soon. I promise." 

He froze as he heard a loud noise outside. Grabbing the heavy book again, he looked out and saw nothing. 

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He walked out with the book and paused when he heard crying. He walked out of the dormitories and to the second floor, where he saw Tenko crying, "Tenko?" 

Tenko looked up from where she had been curled into a ball on the floor, "Oh...I thought you were with Shuichi."

"I was, but you were very loud, and I wanted to check if the one making loud noises was okay."

"Why? I gave you a black eye." 

"Which I'm still bitter about," he replied, "But I was honestly worried it was Miu having an orgasm on Kiibo again." Tenko chuckled a little bit, and Kokichi sat down beside her, "Is it Himiko?" Tenko nodded, then shook her head,

"I...I thought Korekiyo was the culprit. That's why I...I..." she broke down again, but Kokichi understood perfectly,

"You killed him." She nodded,

"I-I thought I could avenge Himiko, then get executed and see her again... I didn't know the second blackened got off the hook." Kokichi sighed,

"Lovely. This killing game is breaking us all. Look...Tenko...I don't exactly know how to comfort you. I can only imagine the pain of if I lost Saihara-chan, so I can't blame you for your actions since I know I'd do the same thing. But you know I can't keep this secret, right? The others are going to start investigating it."

"I-I know!" She wailed, hugging herself, "I wish I hadn't done it. B-But now, the other girls are safe from him, a-at least..." 

"How about this, I will make sure they don't do anything against you, and no more of that degenerate male stuff. We're all just trying to survive here, and the more allies we have without bias, the better. Got it?"

In truth, he was disgusted by what Tenko had done, and angry she'd punched him. He hated murderers, and that was why he was against Maki, but he really did need as many allies as possible. He was focusing all his hate on the mastermind for driving them to this, and Shuichi would want to give Tenko a second chance.

Tenko nodded, "You know...for a male, you're okay, Kokichi. I think I misjudged you in the beginning." 

"You're decent too, Tenko. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go set up preparations to ruin Kaito's morning and then get back to Saihara-chan." Tenko chuckled a little and went back in the direction of her room. 

"Make sure the prank will last a while." She yelled back to him, and Kokichi giggled mischievously. What better way to lighten the mood than a prank war? There would be rules that specified nothing that could be dangerous. That way, nobody could get away with grabbing hazardous things. 

He had the baby powder and blue dye in a small bucket and was ready to go mess with Kaito when someone stopped him. He turned and saw it was Kiibo. Something seemed...off...with him.

"Well, good evening, Keeboy!" He announced, "It isn't nighttime yet, but I'm just heading back to Saihara-chan. Not like there's curfew or anything, though."

Without warning, Kiibo wordlessly fired a blaster directly into Kokichi's chest, sending him smashing through the glass window and landing on the pavement, where he only felt the first lash of pain before sinking into oblivion.

**Surviving students: 10 (11?)**


	5. Chapter 5

Shuichi woke up, caught in a nightmare, but he was surprised to see Kokichi wasn't there.

"Oma-Kun?" He looked around after cleaning his face of the stomach acid he'd hacked up moments ago, "Kokichi? Where are you?" 

The doorbell rang, and he heard Kaito frantically,

"Shuichi! It's Kokichi!" 

That had Shuichi up in moments, not bothering to get dressed or put on shoes, "What is it, Kaito?!" Kaito grabbed his hand, and the two ran across the campus, and Shuichi froze.

There, on the ground, was Kokichi.

Shuichi never wanted to see Kokichi in a state like this. He lay on the ground, his limbs sprawled out, and blood oozing out of a couple places. There was no greyness, merely a lack of the usual pink in his cheeks. Shuichi's hand found his without thinking and recoiled just as fast—so cold. Then he knew, knew why Kaito wanted him to see Kokichi. It wasn't Kokichi at all, just his body. 

Shuichi expected to cry, yet in truth, I felt nothing at all, felt as if he'd never feel anything ever again.

"K-Kokichi..." he checked for a pulse, and he had never been happier to actually feel one. It was weak, so weak, but it was there. And his breathing was so shallow and slow that it was easy to miss. 

"What happened?" He asked, turning to Kaito, his expression cold as he gently cradled his best friend in his arms, not caring that his own clothing was getting stained with blood.

"I don't know. Gonta found him like this. The window was busted," he gestured up to the broken window on the third floor, "Maki said it's a miracle he's alive. Tenko said she saw him about ten minutes before nighttime began, and he went to get something on the third floor, which is probably why he was up there."

"I don't know what happened after Angie's execution." Shuichi said, "Can you catch me up on what happened?"

"You passed out, so Gonta and Kirumi put you in bed, maybe twenty minutes before nighttime began."

"So this whole thing happened within a half-hour of the execution?! The attempted-killer _ really _ wanted to be rid of Kokichi. Maybe it was Korekiyo's killer?"

"I don't think so. The main suspects are Kiibo and Miu."

"What? Why? Miu's a little...much...but she doesn't seem the type of killing. And Kiibo, I could never imagine him killing someone."

"Well, according to Maki, a blaster gun was probably the thing to send Kokichi flying out the window."

"Ah." He held Kokichi a little tighter, "Did everyone else seriously leave him alone out here?!"

"No, they're grabbing supplies from Kirumi and Miu's labs to transport him safely, and get his room kind of like a hospital room. We don't exactly have a doctor around here."

Just then, the others came running. Gonta and Kiibo were carrying the stretcher, and Kirumi was barking orders at Tenko and Ryoma,

"Alright, be very careful while getting him on the stretcher. Ryoma, can you help Shuichi gently place Kokichi?" Ryoma nodded and assisted in placing Kokichi down with the utmost care onto the sheet covering the stretcher, and Gonta and Kiibo were slow as they walked to Miu's lab, where an operating table and Miu was waiting, wearing rubber gloves,

"Everyone except Kiibo and Kirumi out!" Miu barked, and Shuichi saw the tiny knives on a tray. His eyes widened, and he lunged, no longer thinking clearly. The only thing on his mind was that they were going to kill Kokichi, and he'd be alone again, and he would instead become the blackened before letting Kokichi die.

Kaito and Maki held him back,

"They're operating to _ save _ Kokichi," Maki said firmly, "His death is guaranteed if they don't do this."

"But aren't Miu and Kiibo the main suspects?!" Miu turned to Kirumi,

"Seriously?! Fuck you!" Kiibo just bowed his head, clearly ashamed of something, or maybe just acknowledging the reason why he was an assumed suspect.

Tsumugi helped guide Shuichi out of the room, "It's going to be okay, Shuichi. If Kokichi wakes up, he can tell us who did that to him."

"IF?!" Shuichi started hyperventilating, curling in a ball just outside the door to Miu's lab, "He could die...h-he...he could..." 

The morning announcement started playing, and it announced they all needed to meet in the gym. Kaito helped Shuichi up,

"Come on, Shuichi, let's go see what they want. It'll help take your mind off Kokichi's situation."

"I don't want to leave him." Kaito sighed,

"I know. But having three people tending to Kokichi will probably be pushing it. So come on. Hopefully, by the time we're done dealing with this, Kokichi will be in his room and ready for visitors. And come on, would he want you worrying endlessly about him?"

They entered the gym, and the Monokubs arrived moments later,

"Rise and shine, ursine. Thank you for bearing with us." Shuichi cringed at the terrible pun, but that did little to distract him from the thought of his friend bleeding and lifeless after being launched out a window.

"C'mon, what is it?" Monotaro asked, "Why'd you call us out here all of a sudden?" Monophanie turned to him,

"We're the ones who called them out. Or did you forget too?"

Monodam shrugged, "LET'S-NOT-WORRY-ABOUT-MONOTARO. WHERE-ARE-THE-OTHERS?" Shuichi sighed, but it was Gonta who spoke up,

"Kokichi was attacked last night. Kirumi, Miu, and Kiibo are trying to save him."

"SO-SOMEONE-HERE-IS-NOT-GETTING-ALONG? THIS-IS-UNACCEPTABLE! ANYWAY-HERE-IS-YOUR-NEW-MOTIVE." 

"To kill?" Shuichi asked,

"This is no ordinary motive," Monophanie said, "This one will inspire fear like never before."

"IF-YOU-FACE-A-FEAR-LIKE-NEVER-BEFORE...YOU-WILL-HAVE-NO-CHOICE-BUT-TO-UNITE. NOW-FOR-THE-MOTIVE-THAT-WILL-CAST-YOU-DOWN-INTO-THE-DEPTHS-OF-TERROR."

"This time, the motive is a transfer student!" Monotaro announced, "Yep! A new student is transferring. And not just any transfer student..."

Monophanie joined in, "You get to resurrect one of the five people who have died so far, or save the life of Kokichi Oma, and welcome them back to the academy as a transfer student!"

Tsumugi took a couple steps back, "A-A transfer student?" 

Kaito was pale, "We can...resurrect someone?"

"Or save Kokichi?" Gonta asked, "But Kokichi not dead." 

"Not yet, at least." Monotaro said, "And if he dies and comes back, he can tell you who the blackened is! Of course, you could also bring back your precious Kaede. The instructions for the ritual are written in the Necronomicon. By performing the ceremony, you can resurrect _ one _ deceased victim."

"Only one of the five who have died can return as a transfer student," Monophanie said, drilling it in harder that only one could return, "Whoever you choose, that person will be considered part of the killing game semester." 

Shuichi's stomach dropped to the floor. Kaede or Kokichi? Kokichi or Kaede? What kind of choice was that?!

He dully heard the Monokubs start yelling at each other and then leave, leaving everyone completely dumbfounded. Shuichi looked at the book in his hands. Kaede or Kokichi...

He shook his head. No...Kokichi wasn't dead. He wasn't going to die...together they could bring back Kaede, and they could be a trio to defeat the mastermind.

_ But what if Kokichi doesn't pull through? He's been by your side for longer than Kaede was. Are you really willing to sacrifice your best friend for a girl you barely know? _

_ Kaede was framed! A-And I love her! _

_ But she still resorted to killing, something Kokichi hasn't even thought of. And imagine the look on his face if you chose her over him. _

The idea of Kokichi looking heartbroken flashed through his mind, and he fell to his knees, screaming at how wrong this choice was.

"Shuichi...resurrecting the dead isn't possible." Kaito said, "Don't get so worked up about it. I-It just can't happen."

"B-But...Kokichi...Kaede..." Ryoma stared at Shuichi,

"You're struggling with who you would pick. Personally, I don't know how to help you there, because both have been equally helpful and are of equal value to you."

"Even if we do perform the ritual," Tenko said, "Isn't there the law of equal exchange or something like that?"

"I don't know." Shuichi hugged the book, ignoring the fact he was still wearing blood-soaked pajamas, "I just don't know." 

OoOoO

It was six hours before Kirumi came to find Shuichi, who had gotten out of his bloody clothing.

"You can see him now." Shuichi looked up from where he had been panicking in the corner of his room, sitting on Kokichi's bed-couch and crying, his stomach in so many knots that he couldn't touch the food Tsumugi had brought in.

"Is he alive?!" Kirumi nodded, her head bowed,

"Come on." He followed her, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw Kokichi. His poor friend was wrapped in bandages on his left arm, shoulder, around his torso and his legs...

"We were able to stabilize him and bind his broken bones," Kiibo said sadly, "and Miu replaced a lung and some ribs and parts of his spine with machinery, but..."

"Sleeping Beauty here is in a coma." Miu said bitterly, "Lucky. Maybe he can get a kiss out of one of you."

Shuichi felt hot tears fall down his cheeks, gazing at Kokichi and how broken he looked.

"A-A coma? Do you know when he'll..." he took a deep breath, "When he'll wake up..."

"That's the thing about a coma, dumbass! You don't know! Either he'll wake up, he'll die, or he'll be a vegetable forever. There's no way of knowing which it'll be." 

Shuichi, unable to take it anymore, broke down bawling, burying his face in his knees as he tucked himself into a ball.

Eventually, the three left him to his thoughts, and Shuichi forced himself to look at Kokichi.

For a few hours with Shuichi reading novels aloud in hopes of Kokichi waking up, Kokichi's brow would occasionally furrow as if to indicate a thought was forming, but then his face would relax again into the same pained yet somehow peaceful expression. His breath was slow, and even, but his limbs were as still as a cadaver. Moreover, when Shuichi played loud music to try stirring him, nothing happened, not even a twitch.

"Come on, Kokichi, you have to be in there still. I can't lose you too."

Once again, Shuichi was torn. He wanted to investigate who had done this to Kokichi, but doing so would leave Kokichi alone, and then the culprit could come after him again. Sure, he had the Necronomicon, but then he'd be torn between Kokichi and Kaede. That, and he didn't want Kokichi to die to begin with.

He sighed, looking at the oxygen mask Kokichi had on. His bedroom really did look like a hospital room.

"Monokuma!" He called, and the bear appeared, but he looked very...worn down...he didn't say anything and just left, so Shuichi only grew frustrated.

Kaito came in, "I heard about Kokichi's condition. Are you okay?" 

"I'm...fine...can't say the same about him." He gestured to Kokichi, "The mastermind did this, I know it. They killed Kaede, so why not Kokichi? Both were working to end the game."

"Shuichi...Maki and I are gonna train. Wanna join us to take your mind off things?"

"No, thanks...I refuse to leave him. I'm not going to leave his side until he wakes up."

"And if he doesn't pull through?" Shuichi looked to the Necronomicon on the nightstand,

"We'll cross that bridge _ if _ we come to it. I still have hope he'll wake up on his own."

Kiibo suddenly burst in, "I did this! I did this to Kokichi! I can't bear to hide it anymore!" Kaito and Shuichi looked at him in horror,

"Kiibo, that's nonsense!" Kaito said, "You would never do something like this." Kiibo looked like he would cry if he had tear ducts,

"I-I remember everything, though. It felt like I wasn't in control of myself, and I just shot him without provocation. I just need to get this off my chest, Shuichi. Miu is going to look me over to see if she can figure out what caused the issue."

"Well, if you really wanted to kill Kokichi, you wouldn't have started his heart again when we briefly lost him," Kirumi said, coming in and moving Kokichi around on the bed to prevent blood clots. "So spend time with Miu so she can figure out the issue, and we will hope Kokichi pulls through, so we don't need to do a class trial."

Kiibo nodded, shaking as he left to go find Miu. Everyone else left for a while, until Gonta came in around one in the morning, seeing Shuichi was still awake and sitting guard.

"Gonta will protect Kokichi," he said, "Shuichi needs to sleep." Shuichi blinked a couple times,

"It's fine, Gonta, even if I try to sleep, I'll just wake up in a couple hours and unload stomach acid again."

"That...not healthy. Shuichi have trouble sleeping?" Shuichi nodded,

"Ever since Kaede died, I get sick after having nightmares. That's why Kokichi's been sleeping in my room...to help me cope. He's my best friend, and I can't lose him too." he clenched his fists, "Even if Kiibo admitted to it, I still feel the mastermind is the true culprit. So it's my promise, to Kokichi and to everyone else, that I'm going to find the mastermind." His expression was cold, and Gonta shuddered a little bit,

"And...what then?"

Shuichi turned to him, and Gonta gasped to see the swirl of despair in the Detective's eyes,

"Let's just say Punishment Time will be considered mercy."


	6. Chapter 6

An agonizing week had passed. There were no killings, but Shuichi was falling deeper into despair as each hour went by with Kokichi showing no signs of ever waking up. He still needed to be cared for, because he was utterly helpless and needed to be cared for all hours of the day.

A coma isn't like what the fairy tales said, no. There was no dreamy look to someone while they were in this state, and they didn't just sleep. They still needed to eat, drink, remove waste, be cleaned. But they were also still as death itself.

Shuichi finished gently unhooking the IV that connected Kokichi to the bag of liquid nutrients to inject into his bloodstream, and then got him out of bed, removed the diaper Kokichi was forced to wear and set him in the bath. He was still hooked up to multiple machines, so he had to be careful.

"Come on, Oma-Kun, just give me a sign you're in there," Shuichi begged, but Kokichi didn't respond, his head lolling limply like a child's toy.

Kaito had taken to coming to visit to bring Shuichi meals, and Gonta would watch over Kokichi so Shuichi could shower or sleep. But he didn't, refusing to leave Kokichi alone with anyone but Shuichi himself. The mastermind could strike at any time and kill Kokichi!

Tonight, Maki was the one to bring Shuichi dinner,

"Kaito's feeling under the weather, so he asked me to bring you dinner." She turned her face away from where Shuichi was cleaning his friend, "Any change?"

Everyone asked that. If there was any change in Kokichi's condition. There wasn't. There hadn't been since they'd found him half-dead on the ground.

"No, Maki. There hasn't been any change. It's been a week, and he has shown _ zero _ signs of waking up." Shuichi bowed his head, using a towel and wrapping Kokichi in it as one would an infant, "What if Miu's right, and he just never wakes up."

"Miu said that?"

"That it was a possibility. But shouldn't Kokichi have shown some sort of sign by now if he was gonna wake up?"

Maki sighed, "Shuichi, it's been a week. You usually wonder if coma patients won't wake up once the two-month mark hits. Kokichi was seriously injured, so I would expect him to be asleep longer than a week. But he's alive, and that's good."

Shuichi got Kokichi clothes and put him on his stomach on the bed. Kirumi said he had to be in various other positions from time to time, as another method of avoiding blood clots.

He would give anything to see that stunning violet of Kokichi's eyes, even just once.

"Shuichi, do you _like_ Kokichi?" She sent a knowing look to him, and Shuichi turned beet red,

"I felt that way about Kaede." He said, "But Kokichi... I shouldn't be thinking about another boy like that." 

If he was honest with himself, he felt different intensities of warmth when he was with Kaede or Kokichi. With Kaede being almost scalding, and with Kokichi being warm and loving.

One thing had been for sure, he had been in a state of shock when Kaede was executed, but here he was, hellbent to prevent Kokichi's death. Maybe it was because the prankster had been supporting him through this whole mess, and he couldn't lose his best friend. 

But maybe, just_ maybe_, Maki had a point. He had been devastated to lose Kaede, but Kokichi being comatose was driving Shuichi mad, bloodlust emanating towards the mastermind. And his nightmares that led to becoming sick was including Kokichi getting wrongfully executed by Monokuma.

Still, he shook his head, trying to convince himself that Maki was insane. He had sworn when Kaede died that he would never fall in love again. It had barely been two weeks since she died, and here he was, wondering if he'd be seduced by another. 

Maki nodded to herself, "I see," she left, leaving Shuichi alone with these new, confusing, and terrifying thoughts.

"Please, Kokichi, I'll do anything. Just open your eyes," he broke down, the despair swirl once again in his eyes, "Please...don't...leave me alone...you are...all I can trust..." he took shuddering breaths, "I..._ can't_...do this alone."

The nighttime alert began, but Shuichi was brought from his thoughts by the sound of screaming and banging noises. Fearing for Kokichi's life, he got up and ran to the door, witnessing an unbelievable sight.

Kiibo and Gonta were fighting.

And not just screaming at each other. The two wanted each other's heads.

"Get out of my way, Gonta!"

"Gonta won't let you kill Kokichi!" Gonta shouted, throwing the robot into a wall, "Even if Gonta has to give up his life! Gonta will protect everyone!"

Maki jumped into the fight, assisting Gonta in taking down Kiibo. Miu grabbed one of her inventions and used the distraction to jam the thing into Kiibo's neck. The robot's eyes stopped glowing as brightly, and he was panting,

"I can't control myself...get...Kokichi...out of here!"

Ryoma ran over to Shuichi as Kiibo started breaking free, "Shuichi, let's get Kokichi to the safe place."

The 'safe place' was code for the casino. Once Kiibo had admitted he had done this, and Miu revealed there was indeed something trying to control Kiibo, Shuichi had been given three safe places throughout the campus to hide Kokichi just in case the robot went berserk again. 

Getting Kokichi to the casino while making sure to support his entire body, not hurt him, and make sure Kiibo didn't see him...complicated does not _ begin _ to describe how that went down.

Once they got Kokichi hidden and back on life support, Ryoma grabbed a tennis racket and ball.

"Ryoma? I thought you didn't do tennis anymore."

"I don't. But here it's just one more obstacle to make sure you can get Kokichi out of here. I don't want another killing any more than you. And Kokichi...helped to pull me out of a dark place. I've still got a ways to go when it comes to fully restore my will to live, but he gave me a reason to try living again, so I owe it to him to make sure nobody kills him while he's vulnerable."

Shuichi smiled at how Kokichi had touched the hearts of so many people in the short time they'd known each other. And it was his true self to befriend everyone, not the mask he planned to put up.

"Thank you, Ryoma. It really means a lot." 

They hid in the back of the casino, but then gasped when the body discovery announcement played,

"A body has been discovered. Please gather in the Ultimate Inventor's lab." 

"What?!" Ryoma turned to Shuichi,

"I'll go look. You take this," he handed Shuichi a crossbow, probably from Maki's lab, "Use it if needed." He left, leaving Shuichi alone, cradling Kokichi and doing what he could to keep his friend comfortable.

It was draining, physically, and emotionally, to have a coma patient with a target on his back. Shuichi was tired, so tired. But Kokichi needed him. And maybe if he tired himself until he passed out, he could sleep without any nightmares.

He waited nervously for Ryoma or someone to return, fearing Kiibo had killed someone, and that had been the body.

It was Kirumi who came to him, 

"Shuichi! You need to get to Miu's lab, there's been an explosion!"

"An explosion?!" The two worked to get Kokichi back to his room, and then Kirumi gave Shuichi no chance to make sure everything was in place before dragging him to the fourth floor, where Shuichi gasped.

It was a mess, clearly the product of an explosion from what looked to be a massive computer. Kaito was cradling Maki's limp body, Ryoma was helping Tsumugi who had a clearly broken arm. Gonta was crying from where he leaned against the wall, and Shuichi noticed burns along his arm. Miu had thrown her whole body on the ruined computer and was crying her eyes out, but she didn't seem harmed other than being covered in soot.

"Maki Roll, please..." Kaito begged her, and Shuichi saw the pain in the Astronaut's eyes that he knew all too well. Kirumi bent down beside the assassin and examined her,

"It's okay, Kaito. She got knocked out and will have a minor concussion, but she will be alright. Probably the least injured of all the people directly affected by the explosion. But she still needs to rest. Can you take her to my lab? I'm going to use my lab as the official infirmary. Anyone injured or near the explosion will meet there, once we deal with..." she sighed, and Shuichi then realized nobody was focusing on Kiibo and Tenko.

Bending down beside the two, Shuichi instantly realized Tenko was dead. Her neck had been snapped, probably by the blast. Kiibo...it was hard to tell if anything had happened. But he seemed out cold.

"Miu, can you check on Kiibo?" Miu looked in Kiibo's direction, before crying,

"Such a beautiful invention...the shockwave forcefully deactivated him and then some sort of glitch...finished him off."

Shuichi's hands flew to his mouth. Two more of his friends were dead, and at least three others were injured.

Monokuma appeared, alongside the Monokubs,

"Well, would you look at that! Another double murder!"

"Are we sure this wasn't an accident?" Kirumi asked, "Kiibo's attacks could have certainly caused a blast like this, which would mean the blackened is dead."

"Nope. It was definitely one of you." 

"Yeah, sure!" Kaito snapped, "I have faith in my friends. If anyone did this, it's the mastermind!" He picked up a sort of hammer off the ground, and bashed Monodam with it, and sent both Monotaro and Monophanie flying. Gonta took the chance to pin Monokuma with his foot,

"Kaito right! Mastermind killed our friends! But getting rid of you means no more killings!"

Monokuma scoffed, "Big mistake..."

"Huh?" 

"Violence against the headmaster, Monokuma, is strictly prohibited. This is a violation! Thank god I still have the original thing I used in cases of this. Heed my call, oh Spears of Gungnir, come to thine master's aid!"

Spears shot out of nowhere, skewering Gonta right before everyone's eyes as blood rained down. 

Gonta twitched for a moment, before falling down dead.

"You monster!" Tsumugi screamed at Monokuma, and everyone else was too stunned to move after losing _three _of their friends in ten minutes.

"W-Wha..." Kaito's eyes widened, and then he fainted. Even calm and collected Kirumi looked ready to be sick.

Ryoma was glaring daggers at Monokuma, "That was just not cool. Never before have I been this...irritated." 

Shuichi was shaking, and every conscious person saw the despair swirl in his eyes again. He picked Monophanie up from where she was recovering and ripped her head clean off and then turned to Monotaro, now wholly unhinged as he lunged at Monotaro. The last Monokub was trying to call an exisal, only to get grabbed by Ryoma, who used the bear's body like a ball and launched him out the door like a tennis ball.

"What are you doing?!" Miu asked, and Shuichi smirked,

"He only said attacking the headmaster was against the rules. I simply took advantage of the loophole." Monokuma was clearly shocked by what had just gone down,

"NO! My precious cubs! Damn, I really should have added not killing _ them _ into the rules. I mean, I did, but not as a punishable by death thing, more like slapping on the wrist..." Shuichi clenched his fists,

"Get. Out. NOW!" 

Monokuma, shockingly, took a couple steps back, "Okay, okay. I...uh... I'm giving you a couple days before the class trial, just to make sure everyone is at their best physically and mentally," he sent a pointed look at Shuichi at that, before leaving.

"That was awesome, Shuichi," Tsumugi said, "But also...scary. Kind of like Inuyasha in full yokai form." 

Ryoma sent her a confused look, before looking around at the three corpses and two unconscious people, and one person with a broken arm.

"You still have the Necronomicon, right, Shuichi?"

"Uh...yeah. I-I was kind of hoping to avoid using it until Kokichi woke up."

"Well," Kirumi said, "Miu, can you make robot bodies based off the deceased?" Miu shrugged,

"I guess I could do that." Even she seemed so shaken by the last fifteen minutes that she wasn't acting like her usual loud and horny self.

"Once Maki and Kaito wake up," Kirumi removed her gloves and dug her nails into her palms so hard there were droplets of blood. It was clear she too was trying not to cry, "We will decide who we want to resurrect. Because unless Kokichi wakes up in the next couple days, we can't wait for him anymore, since Monokuma is bound to take the book the moment the execution happens if there is one."

"You're right." Tsumugi said, "I can't exactly help, sorry..."

"It's fine...Miu, can you help Ryoma carry Maki? Shuichi and I will take Kaito." Miu nodded meekly and helped Ryoma.

It took hours to treat injuries, and calm Kaito down. Maki was very clearly concussed, only worse than expected because she couldn't form straight sentences.

It was likely sometime around three in the morning by the time Shuichi made it back to Kokichi, and he couldn't stop himself from holding Kokichi tight and sobbing,

"O...Oma-Kun...everything's going wrong, so wrong! I can't do this without you. If you want us all to live, you have to wake up."

Kokichi still didn't reply, and that hurt his heart. This would be the first class-trial without Kokichi, without his dear friend.

He bowed his head, placing Kokichi gently back on the bed, kissing his forehead,

"Sleep well, Kokichi. Kirumi has a ton of panta with your name on it when you wake up." He held Kokichi's hand, and let himself start to nod off, but he gasped as he felt a tiny twitch in Kokichi's hand that made it seem he was squeezing. But Shuichi was pretty sure his exhaustion was making him hallucinate, so he let himself fall asleep in that armchair.

OoOoO

This was not what the mastermind had wanted.

When they manipulated one of the students into controlling K1-BO to kill Kokichi Oma, it was supposed to be foolproof and make the game more interesting. This wasn't supposed to lead to the death of three students and the main protagonist growing increasingly insane, having the potential to become worse than Nagito Komaeda—and that was saying a lot.

Kokichi needed to wake up, and he had to do it fast. Then bring back Kaede, and maybe the game could continue once Shuichi calmed down.

The game could hopefully be salvaged. If too many lines have been crossed by Monokuma and the mastermind...Danganronpa would be ruined forever.

And the mastermind refused to let that happen.


	7. Chapter 7

Three days passed, and Kaito was tending to Maki hand and foot, doing everything he could to keep her comfortable while she was vulnerable. According to Kirumi, Kaito was just as freaked out about Maki's condition as Shuichi was with Kokichi's.

Ryoma had taken to being the one to ensure Shuichi took care of himself, but Kokichi was also not alone.

Eleven days had passed since they found Kokichi blasted out a window. And finally, things were starting to look up. Apparently, that squeezing had been real. It was just a reflex, but Kokichi's ability to squeeze was a massive step in the right direction.

Things had only gotten better from there, and he didn't need to be hooked up to machines and started responding to stimuli, and a little color had returned to his face.

Tsumugi came in, with her arm in a sling, "Shuichi, it's time to start investigating. And Miu built those robots."

"Thanks, Tsumugi," Shuichi muttered, and the Ultimate Cosplayer brought him to the dining hall, where everyone else was, including Maki, who was starting to get better.

"So, can we agree we need help around here?" Kirumi asked, "Like the Necronomicon." 

"I vote Kaede!" Kaito shouted, raising his hand, "She was the sort of de facto leader, which was then filled in by Kokichi, who isn't exactly in the best state to lead right now." 

"Actually...I was thinking Rantaro." Ryoma said quietly, "Think about it. There has to be a reason the mastermind killed Rantaro first. We don't know what his talent was. What if his talent would have ended this game?"

"But Kaede was framed!" Shuichi snapped, "She didn't deserve to die! And she wanted to end the killing game too!"

"It is a point that Shuichi is sort of on a downward spiral," Tsumugi pointed out, "Bringing Kaede back and then having Kokichi awake as well might be a good course of action."

"But, Bakamatsu might try to kill again," Miu said, "Even if she was framed, it's because she tried to kill someone to begin with."

"That's a good point..." Kaito muttered, "But she might get it right this time if we add on Kokichi's help."

"That's assuming Kokichi wakes up any time soon," Maki sighed, "We can assume Kokichi would vote for Kaede as well."

"So," Ryoma looked around, "That's three for Rantaro and five for Kaede?"

"Four and four," Maki corrected, "Too bad there's an even number of us, meaning we're stuck."

"How about we vote on this after the blackened is executed?" Shuichi asked, "Monokuma said it was one of us, even accidentally, so that means someone will be executed, and there will be an odd number of us."

"Hm...that's true." Kirumi nodded, "But you are unusually calm about the idea of someone being executed,"

"I would typically be more freaked out, but I am way too emotionally drained for that."

"That's fair," Kaito muttered, "So should we start investigating?" Ryoma nodded,

"Actually, I already did. It looked like a small detonator had been placed inside the computer, and one of the tech-destroying grenades set it off. So to figure this out, we need alibis from everyone. Maki, are you able to remember?"

"Of course I am," she winced at the pain in her head, "The people fighting Kiibo were myself, Gonta, and Tenko. Miu was in there too, digging for something in a bin."

"Yeah!" Miu snapped, "I was looking for something to knock Kiibo out, not something to kill him!"

The bell went off, signaling it was time for the class trial, and everyone went to take their own place.

"So everyone was investigating," Shuichi said, immediately getting the ball rolling, "Ryoma mentioned a detonator inside the computer. And that caused the explosion. Maki said Miu was looking for something, but that just seems too obvious for her to be the culprit. But this is something only she, Kiibo, and the mastermind could accomplish. And that's why...I believe the mastermind did this!"

"Shuichi's right," Kaito pointed out, "the true culprit of this case is the one who was controlling Kiibo. Miu mentioned the tech involved in his creation was revolutionary, so she wouldn't dare go near his code. But the mastermind most likely knew how to do it."

"Are we sure it wasn't Miu?" Kirumi asked, "I remember seeing an air duct broken, and Tsumugi below it with a broken arm."

"I was trying to get the drop on Kiibo to help," Tsumugi said in a panic, "Then he blasted through, and I broke my arm. Guess I'm just so plain that I can't even be helpful."

"Kirumi," Maki asked, "Where were you when the explosion went off?"

"About to head to the casino to make sure Kokichi was alright. I heard it and picked up the pace."

"That's true," Ryoma added on, "I saw her when I went to investigate the body discovery. Unless she was running at top speeds, there is no way she got there so fast unless she was already on her way. And I was with Shuichi and Kokichi until the body discovery announcement went off."

"I had a coughing fit while helping fight Kiibo," Kaito said, "I was getting some water from the dining hall when I heard the crash."

"I remember seeing him fall over coughing," Maki confirmed, "Vaguely. But that's the most obscure detail I will remember without hurting my brain."

Shuichi nodded, "So that narrows down the suspects to Kiibo, Tenko, Gonta, Maki, Miu, and Tsumugi."

"There's no way Gonta did it." Tsumugi said, "Not only was he not good with computers, but he also wanted to protect us all. The only one who could have known about the detonator in the computer is Miu, Monokuma, and the mastermind."

"There's no time Tenko would have gotten the opportunity because Kiibo flew up and struck her down first," Maki said, rubbing her head. "And I doubt Kiibo did because he was only fighting us when we were directly in his path to Kokichi's room. But anything, after he knocked Tenko into a wall, is black for me, because that's when the explosion happened and I was knocked out."

"That was awesome info!" Kaito encouraged, "Good going, Maki Roll."

"Shut up. I still have a headache."

"So that narrows it down to Tsumugi and Miu." Shuichi said, "So please, both of you, refute my argument." 

Miu was the first to speak, "Well, why the hell would I not only destroy my two favorite computers, and in such a way that would instantly throw me under the bus?! This golden brain of mine is better than that!"

Tsumugi was much quieter, "I will admit I know quite a bit about computers since I watch a lot of anime...but I was in the air vent, so there's no way I could have activated the detonator since I didn't have any sort of remote or trigger."

"But how do we know you're not lying?" Kirumi asked, "Honestly, you are the most suspicious."

"And," Miu smirked, "Ryoma, how did you know about the detonator. Is it possible you started the explosion with a remote?"

"I left with Shuichi the moment Kiibo started attacking." Ryoma said, "They weren't in your lab at that point, and how could I have known they would? I knew there was a detonator due to also being the Ultimate Inmate, so you really think I wasn't told how to tell? For a genius, you've still got a ways to go."

Miu looked insulted but also turned on.

"So can we agree Tsumugi is the prime suspect?" Kaito asked, "But how would she have set it off?"

"A remote, maybe?" Kirumi offered, "Like this one, I found at the scene of the crime." She held up a little black trinket with a weird mouse symbol on it.

To everyone's surprise, Miu was the one to tense, while Tsumugi looked at the thing in confusion.

"Hang on... let me see that," Kaito said, and Kirumi tossed it to him, so he could examine it,

"This is the same mouse symbol as on all of Miu's inventions." His eyes widened, "M-Miu?"

"Here's some more evidence," Tsumugi said out of nowhere, "Kiibo's chip. I looked at the edit history, and it looks like someone added a virus of some sort into his coding."

"W-What?!" Miu was clearly terrified, "That's impossible. The chip was fried, I saw it myself!"

"Well, how do we not know you're lying?" Maki asked, and Miu hesitated,

"I swear, I didn't kill them!"

"Prove it then," Shuichi muttered. As Miu started babbling and digging herself into a deeper hole, his intuition told him Tsumugi was the culprit. The evidence was being handed to him on a silver platter, saying he was wrong, but he couldn't shake that feeling.

"I think we've heard enough," Kirumi said, and Monokuma brightened,

"It's voting time! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one!" 

Against all logic, Shuichi found his hand gravitate towards Tsumugi, and pressed the button. The results showed that someone else voted for Tsumugi, probably Miu. 

Monokuma cackled, "You're right again! The one who killed K1-B0 and Tenko Chabashira is Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor."

"Why?!" Kaito demanded of Miu, "Why did you do it?!"

"I-I..." Miu sobbed, "I didn't mean to. I didn't want Kiibo or Tenko to die...it was an accident!" 

"An accident?" Ryoma asked. Miu nodded through sobs,

"I was trying to fix a glitch in Kiibo, and it caused him to flip out and target the first person he sees at random times. That person was Kokichi. I tried to fix it...b-but the Monokubs came to me a-and said t-that if Kokichi were killed, we'd all get out of here, scot-free. S-So I left the virus be...but I didn't set off the detonator! I found it there a couple nights ago and was trying to remove it!"

"The Monokubs said we'd all leave if Kokichi died? Why?"

"My cubs said that?" Monokuma asked, confused for a second, before becoming smug, "Puhuhu! What a brilliant trick as a motive! The mastermind is a genius!"

"WHAT?!" Came from everyone, especially Miu.

"So I'm guessing Kiibo set off the detonator accidentally," Kirumi said, but a part of Shuichi still wasn't convinced.

"Enough!" Monokuma shouted, "I've prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Inventor."

"Do you keep all of this in reserve?" Kaito asked in exasperation, and Monokuma nodded,

"Yup! For each one of you, just in case one of you messes up. Except for Rantaro 'cause I couldn't really figure out what his thing was about, so basically, the plan was to pelt him to death with avocados. But, anyway—anyway, that's a completely different timeline, alright. Let's stick to this one. Speaking of which..." 

**Game Over**

**Miu has been found guilty.**

**Time for the punishment**

Miu was in a lab, sobbing while working on a computer. Then there was an explosion, which almost killed her. However, a bunch of doctor Monokumas appeared and operated immediately, amputating her limbs and replacing them with robot parts until she became nothing but a robot. Then, they would put her into a furnace and turn her body into soda cans, which they filled with her blood, and placed a label on the cans: 

Miu Cola.

Shuichi was ready to puke as Monokuma took a long drink from one of the cans. He shuddered, before falling to his knees and curling into a ball. Executions were repulsive.

Kaito helped him up, "Come on, Shuichi, none of that until you go check on Kokichi. Him being safe always makes you feel a little better."

Kirumi turned to Monokuma, angered but still logical, "Can you give us two more days with the Necronomicon?"

"Uh...sure. The number of students is seriously lacking, and we just ended trial _ three _."

And so, they all left, and Shuichi got sick on the grass. 

"Seriously..." he looked up at them, "How can you all stomach watching that?!"

"I close my eyes," Ryoma said, getting nods from Tsumugi and Kirumi. 

Maki shrugged, "I'm used to death."

Kaito hesitated before sending Shuichi a smile, "I'm just holding it in right now. I get sick after executions too. Unlike you, I just manage to hold it in until I'm alone."

"But didn't you punch him for his 'weakness'?" Kirumi asked with her hands on her hips. Kaito looked away,

"Yeah, but that was until I was alone and had that execution on loop in my brain." He froze for a moment, "Sorry, I need to be alone." He walked off, briskly in another direction. Maki went as though to follow him but then sighed.

Shuichi then remembered Kokichi and ran to his friend's side. But then he gasped at what he saw.

Kokichi was awake, moving around on the floor from where he seemed to have tried getting up, only to step on his broken ankle and fall over.

Without even thinking, Shuichi bent down and cradled Kokichi, kissing him firmly on the lips, tears spilling down his cheeks.

Then he realized what he was doing and broke away, terrified he had just crossed a line, and Kokichi would hate him. But he was surprised to see Kokichi's entire face was beet-red. 

"S-Sorry," he stammered, "I-I'm really happy to see you're awake."

"It's fine." Kokichi assured after a second, "It's more than fine." He then gasped in pain, "Wh-What happened? T-The last thing I remember is..."

"Miu was controlling Kiibo to try killing you. But she was being manipulated by the mastermind. You...You've been in a coma for nearly two weeks."

"I know that part." Kokichi said, "I've been hearing you for the past three days. It was miserable, being able to hear everything but unable to show any sign. I heard you reading to me, and giving me daily updates, and begging me to wake up and...I tried, Saihara-chan, I really did. Only about an hour ago did I finally have the strength to...open my eyes."

"It makes sense you would hear things once you started showing signs of coming out of the coma," Maki said, "But it is oddly convenient you woke up right after the execution."

"Don't ask me." Kokichi said, before whimpering as Kirumi rewrapped his ankle, "Ca-Can you please be gentle?" 

"My apologies. I wanted to make sure you hadn't messed it up again. Shuichi, we should get him back in bed." Shuichi nodded and cradled Kokichi, placing him delicately in bed. Kirumi looked to Kokichi, "You need bed rest, and you will be walking with crutches until your ankle is better. You're lucky Miu and Kiibo were able to put you back together because you could very well have been paralyzed from the neck down instead of just a broken ankle."

"I understand. Thanks, Mom. Can I please have some panta, because I was promised panta when I woke up." Kirumi rolled her eyes and went to grab some. Ryoma ruffled Kokichi's hair,

"I'm glad you're awake." Maki just nodded to show her relief. Tsumugi was nowhere to be found.

"Can we...have a moment alone?" Shuichi asked. Maki and Ryoma looked to each other, and it was Ryoma who put something in Shuichi's pocket.

When he checked what the Tennis Pro had put there, he turned tomato red and shoved it back in his pocket before Kokichi could see it. 

"So..." Kokichi said, "I...I normally wouldn't be so direct about the things I heard while I was...but you did kiss me. Do you...?"

Shuichi started crying, trying to get out these words, "I was going to tell you the moment I saw you, finally awake."

"And now?" Kokichi's lip trembled a bit,

"These last two weeks have been unbearable without you. I thought I was broken before, but only when I lost you did, I realize you make me feel _ alive _, Oma-Kun. And I want you to know that...I love you. I don't think it really hit me entirely until I saw my prayers had been answered, and suddenly I forgot about Kaede completely, just thankful you were okay. My heart belongs to you, Kokichi Oma," he cupped Kokichi's cheek and studied his face, "We will defeat the mastermind and end the killing game together. I won't let them take you away from me again, even if you don't return my feelings."

Shuichi gasped as he felt Kokichi licking his tears away, even though he, too, was crying.

"Three aware days trapped in my own body gave me time to realize the same thing. Shumai...I love you. You can do whatever you want to me," he placed his mouth right next to Shuichi's ear, "And that's the truth. You're _ mine _." 

That purr...those words...Shuichi couldn't take it anymore and grabbed Kokichi, locking their lips. This time, Kokichi returned it wholeheartedly. And for a time, Shuichi forgot they were in a killing game and that the mastermind was still out there. Right now, Kokichi was his entire world.

The moment was thoroughly ruined by Kirumi storming in.

"No. I will have none of that when Kokichi came out of a two-week coma _ less than an hour ago _. I swear, Shuichi, I will kick you out."

"Mom, it's fine." Kokichi pouted, crossing his arms, grumpily, "He makes me feel better." 

Kirumi sighed, "Fine. Take your panta," she handed him the drink, "And go to sleep. I better not find either of you doing unspeakable things when I come back to check on you in an amount of time I refuse to tell you."

When she left, Kokichi laughed a little, laying down in bed, "Hey, I really have to pee, but don't want this diaper anymore. Can you help me?" Shuichi nodded, carrying Kokichi to the bathroom and then walking to the closet to grab him some boxers.

Kokichi cleaned himself up and came out with wet hair after taking a shower, getting back in bed.

"Cuddle with me, Saihara-chan? Read me to sleep." Shuichi was already in his own pajamas and hopped into bed, grabbing a book from the nightstand. Kokichi cuddled close to him, and Shuichi started reading.

When Kirumi came in two hours later, she saw them both fast asleep, with Kokichi sleeping and using Shuichi's chest as a pillow.

She smiled, putting the book on the nightstand and pulling the blankets up over her two friends.

But Kokichi's recovery...bothered her. He shouldn't be so aware after just waking up. It's supposed to take close to a week for him to be aware for longer than a half-hour. 

No matter how happy she was that Kokichi was finally okay, it didn't make sense.

OoOoO

The mastermind sighed in relief that their elixir worked.

The year was 2035, so of course, doctors had found a way to pull someone out of a coma. It had been challenging to give Kokichi the dose of the medications needed without detection, but finally, it worked. The best part was it pulled him out completely, so it was just as though he woke up from a nap. 

It was disappointed that Shuichi had started seriously moving on from Kaede, but the fans were loving Saioma, so it could be worse.

Finally, things were on the right track.

At least, as long as Kaede was the one brought back instead of Rantaro. Love triangle would work much better than Rantaro ruining everything using his Survivor's Perk...


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright, so Rantaro has been chosen?" Kirumi asked the group. Because a love triangle in a killing game was a terrible idea, and Shuichi had finally moved on, the rest of the group had decided to give the new couple some alone time, and resurrect Rantaro themselves.

Tsumugi shook her head, "I really think, Kaede."

"No. The last thing we need is Kokichi and Kaede to fight for Shuichi." Maki said, "So let's just get it over with."

And so, the group worked together to perform the ritual, and the robot Rantaro turned into a human body. 

Rantaro blinked awake, "Huh? What happened?" He looked around, confused, "I was in the libra—" he gasped, and Maki grabbed his shoulders,

"It's okay, Rantaro. We'll explain everything."

Monokuma appeared, "Let's just say an avocado turned into guacamole right before the time limit went off. Welcome back, Rantaro Amami. All your things are in your room."

"Um...where are the others?"

"Dead." Kaito said, "Except for Shuichi and Kokichi. They've been spending the last day or so making out."

"Ah, so two people found love, and everything else has gone to hell. Got it." Rantaro got up, "Well if you excuse me, I'm going to get back to what I was doing before."

"And what was that?" Kirumi asked,

"Ending this killing game for good." 

OoOoO

Shuichi couldn't get the last class trial out of his head. The way Miu was begging that she didn't do it...it was genuine. Even when all the evidence was against her, it still didn't feel right.

What if the mastermind framed her like they did with Kaede?

That made his blood run cold, the idea of Miu getting executed wrongfully. 

Kokichi looked up at him, his smile faltering, "Saihara-chan, is everything alright?" Shuichi snapped back to reality, kissing Kokichi,

"In general? No. With you? Everything is _ perfect _ with you, except that broken ankle and the whole thing with you have been in a coma, but those aren't your fault."

"We probably should get back to ending the killing game, as lovely as this is." Shuichi looked down at the prankster,

"You still need to be on bed rest."

"Shumai, I hate to break it to you, but the things we have done in the last day does not quite count as bed rest. If I can do this, I can get up and finish the killing game," he sat up and kissed Shuichi's neck, "And wouldn't it be nice to be together without the fear of someone dying in the middle of us enjoying each other and being the Ultimate Cockblock."

Shuichi chuckled, "Fair enough." With his help, Kokichi managed to get dressed, but he still had to wear his pajama pants since his regular jeans were tight at the ankles, which did not work with the violet cast Kokichi wore.

It was a bummer Kokichi's room was on the second floor. Because then Shuichi had to carry him bridal style to the dining hall,

When they sat down, Kaito gave them a shit-eating grin,

"So, how was your night together? Since Miu's not here to ask and I'm a little curious, I have to ask: did you do it?" Shuichi spit out his drink like one would in a movie, and Kokichi choked a bit. Maki stopped this conversation before it got going,

"What they did is their business." She said, "Also, Rantaro's back." Shuichi's eyes widened,

"I thought..."

"We weren't in the mood to deal with a love triangle or a harem." Ryoma said bluntly, "And Rantaro was also trying to end the killing game. He's off doing that right now." 

Shuichi turned and saw Kokichi's happy mood had dulled, and he looked a little sad,

"Oma-Kun, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." He got up, "I need to use the restroom. I'll be back." 

...

Once he was alone, Kokichi locked the bathroom door, unaware his tear-blotched vision had led him into the girl's bathroom, and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest as he sobbed.

He loved Shuichi with all his heart and had for a while. But the mention of the resurrection...it was a reminder that he was just the rebound guy. If Kaede had been brought back, would Shuichi have chosen her or him? He hoped the answer would be him, but the rest of him knew it would have been Kaede.

It hurt, and it hurt a lot. Even if he spent the rest of his life with Shuichi, with his beloved Saihara-chan, he would always have a kernel of doubt.

His sobs became more like wails as he started thinking about his original plan from what felt like an eternity ago. But...Shuichi would hate him, and Kokichi would rather anything but that.

But maybe...did Shuichi already hate him, saying they were in love when Kokichi knew he wouldn't have a chance if Kaede were alive? He had given everything to Shuichi, including his virtue, but was it reciprocated? Did Shuichi really love him?

He continued to cry and hadn't realized he had been screaming out his doubts when he felt arms wrap around him. For a moment, he thought it was Shuichi, but it was actually Rantaro.

"H-How did you get in here?" Kokichi asked, and Rantaro frowned,

"What are you doing crying your eyes out in the girl's bathroom?"

"Huh?" Kokichi looked up, realizing he was, in fact, in the girl's bathroom, "Whoops. But answer my question."

"Come look at this," Rantaro helped him up and handed him the crutches. He brought Kokichi to some sort of secret passage, which led directly to the hidden room behind the bookcase.

"Holy mother of panta," Kokichi looked around, "I already knew the mastermind killed you, and now we know how they got—" he gasped, "Tsumugi is the mastermind!"

"What?" Kokichi looked up at Rantaro,

"She said she went to that bathroom at the exact time you were killed, supposedly by Kaede but actually not. This is how she did it!" He looked in the trashcan and, sure enough, found a shot-put ball with pink fibers embedded in it,

Rantaro grinned, "That was fast. Come on, we have to tell the others!" 

They all met in the dining hall, and Kokichi wiped his face as they spoke.

"Everyone! Rantaro and I just figured out who the mastermind is!" He said excitedly, "Because we found a secret passageway through the girl's bathroom to the room behind the door. The same bathroom Tsumugi went to at the time of Rantaro's murder." 

Everyone turned to Tsumugi in horror. Kaito blanched,

"So it's true. You were the one to cause the explosion!" 

Tsumugi gasped, "I'm not the mastermind! I-It's Junko Enoshima. Be-Because it's always been her! This killing game is her doing too!"

"Who the hell is Junko Enoshima?" Ryoma asked, "You're just proving our point." Tsumugi growled, before pulling out a flashback light, and they were all shown memories of the Remnants of Despair, Junko, the Tragedy, all of it.

When it was done, Rantaro laughed,

"You just restored my memory, Tsumugi. Of everything. Of how I am the Ultimate Survivor, formerly Ultimate Adventurer, an expert in killing games."

Tsumugi took a couple steps back as Shuichi and Kaito came closer. Maki had vanished entirely until she was strangling the mastermind.

But Tsumugi pulled some sort of thing out of her jacket. Smoke came out...

OoOoO

Shuichi woke up on the ground, surrounded by his unconscious companions. But Tsumugi was nowhere to be found,

Same with Kokichi.

"KOKICHI!" Shuichi shrieked, getting up and looking around for his lover, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The others woke up and saw Kokichi's scarf and crutches had been discarded, and a tablet was next to them.

Rantaro turned it on, and everyone gasped when they saw...

It was inside the warehouse they knew. Tsumugi was wearing attire identical to Junko, except her hair was the same as usual. Behind her was Kokichi, laying limp under the hydraulic press, conscious but also not all-there.

Tsumugi turned the camera, and Shuichi gasped as he saw Kaede, alive and afraid, with the same chain around her neck, which was leading up to her execution once again.

"You really think I didn't have a second Necronomicon?" The mastermind asked, "And what marvelous despair is this! Our main protagonist has to choose between two love interests. Either you save Kaede from her execution, or Kokichi from the Strike-9 poison running through his veins and then the hydraulic press. You can only save one, Ultimate Detective. Come alone. And if there isn't another killing by noon, I'll kill them both." The message ended, and everyone gasped.

"That's not good," Maki said in her usual monotone voice. Kaito shrieked, Kirumi paled, and Shuichi was grabbing a knife. 

Ryoma and Rantaro were the only calm ones.

"I'm calling her bluff." Rantaro said, "It's already been revealed they royally interfered with two cases. This whole killing game wouldn't be so strict, and Monokuma needing to follow the rules if nobody was watching. For the mastermind to interfere like this ruins the show. I'm betting Tsumugi is trying to cause drama to salvage the mess she's made."

Kaito turned to Shuichi, "Shuichi, you're getting creepy eyes again, what's going on."

"I promised Kokichi, I wouldn't let anything to anyone take him away from me. And I am going to keep that promise to protect him." He walked away, massive butcher knife in hand, "Even if it costs me my life."

Maki turned to Kaito, "Come on, Kaito. We need to go get the antidote for the poison from Shuichi's lab." They left, leaving Kirumi, Ryoma, and Rantaro.

"What's the plan?" Ryoma asked. Kirumi crossed her arms, 

"The plan I can think of is going through the labs of the deceased, loot the place, and then once Shuichi has saved one of the two hostages, we go in weapons blazing, screaming blood and thunder. If Tsumugi wants a killing, why not kill her and end this mess?"

Rantaro nodded, "That's not a bad plan. But maybe change out of heels and a dress. Mobility is important."

"Agreed." 

Ryoma was shaking a little, "Are we about to end the killing game?" 

Rantaro went to leave, but he turned, "Either we end the game, or we all die. Either way, it ends for us tonight."

OoOoO

Tsumugi waited, gazing upon her hyper-realistic Kaede robot. Kokichi used all his strength to try getting out from under the hydraulic press, but failed,

"You're not gonna get away with this. Shuichi will defeat you!" 

Tsumugi chuckled, "You're cute. You can't even stand, but you still—" she flopped over as a metal water bottle was chucked at her, knocking her out.

Kokichi smirked, "Don't you dare question the Supreme Leader of Pranks and Panta. My ankle may be bad, but I still have an awesome throwing arm." He coughed as the poison made it hard to breathe, and took the time to get out from under the hydraulic press, because that was not the way he planned to die, only for Monokuma to step in,

"You really want to try escaping? Don't you want to see if your beloved Saihara-chan truly loves you?" Kokichi backed up with all of his strength, which admittedly wasn't much since he used most of it in throwing that bottle full of chilled panta, which he was scooting towards. 

"If Shumai doesn't love me...and chooses Kaede... I'll accept that. I just...want to...know." He opened a small section of the lid and launched the carbonated liquid at Monokuma, only to get restrained by exisals with...the Monokubs in them?

"Get back under the press," Monosuke ordered, and this time Kokichi was too tired to fight back. But he still smirked, decided to buy time to get more strength,

"Oh... did I forget to tell you? Kiibo broke the press controls to make sure something like this didn't happen." All the exisals looked at each other and went to check. Monophanie came out of her exisal as though to monitor from below, and Kokichi took the chance. As he saw the press slowly get lower, he grabbed the bear and performed a switching trick Himiko had mentioned knowing how to do. 

So the press came down on Monophanie, and Kokichi was shocked to find the cubs had a ton of blood stored inside them for some reason. It looked like a person was crushed. But he wasn't complaining and hopped into the lowered exisal, before passing out once it was locked tight.

...

Shuichi came into the room, looking for Tsumugi, surprised to find her looking a little dazed. Kaede was trying to remove the collar around her neck, and brightened,

"Shuichi!" He ran over to her,

"Kaede! Where's Kokichi!" Kaede started shaking and gestured to the hydraulic press. 

Shuichi felt something snap within him when he saw all the blood. There was no doubt Kokichi had been killed by the press.

He didn't realize he was screaming until Tsumugi started cackling,

"Well, what do you know? You don't need to make a choice at all! But at least now, he doesn't need to see you choose Kaede over him." She then gasped as the butcher knife was plunged into her stomach, going clean through at just the right place to cause intense pain but not enough to kill her.

He whispered in her ear, "I would have chosen Kokichi, you bitch. And, you are guilty of killing six students, found guilty. Let's give it everything we've got because it's Punishment Time."

"Shuichi, stop!" Kaede shouted, "This isn't right! Is Kokichi really worth killing for?" 

Shuichi froze. Kaede seriously thought they shouldn't end the game? And that Kokichi wasn't worth it? 

It was at this moment he realized just how vastly superior Kokichi was. Kokichi hadn't killed anyone, had thought everything through, had brought the group together using logic, and _ then _ becoming close. 

Kaede continued to stare at him, but then the clock chimed noon. Before Shuichi's eyes, she was pulled to her death. But this time, Shuichi didn't have to look. His heart hurt, knowing he had let her die. But all he could think about was Kokichi. That his beloved violet was dead.

His heart then hardened as he turned to Tsumugi, who stood up weakly, 

"You've ruined my life!" She wept, "I was supposed to make the best season of _Danganronpa _yet, and you ruined it!"

"Huh? _Danganronpa_?"

"A television show. Originally it was based on a true story. Until this season, the Hope's Peak Academy arc was all valid facts and found security footage. But then the show became popular, two seasons a year, and fifty-three seasons, and we decided to take teenagers with no faith in humanity, and...and rewrite them into the ideal characters for stories. You are a fictional character, Shuichi Saihara!" 

Shuichi wasn't fully processing that, but everyone who had overheard came out and gasped.

Ryoma brightened, "I might have people in the outside world after all..."

Kirumi threw a hand over her mouth, and for some reason, she was wearing one of Maki's assassin uniforms, "I almost killed everyone for no reason."

Maki sighed in relief, "I'm not a murderer." Kaito just coughed.

Rantaro looked on the brink of fainting.

Shuichi shook his head, "We are real people. Even if you wrote us into being, we have a will of our own. Kokichi had a will of his own, and you killed him. You killed the love of my life for your own twisted game! And for that, you will pay."

He ripped the hammer out of Monokuma's hand and smacked it down, and a screen appeared.

**Game Over**

**Tsumugi has been found guilty.**

**Time for the Punishment.**

Tsumugi was placed in a dark room full of mannequins. Each doll was wearing the wig and costume of a different Danganronpa character. A spotlight shined onto the mannequin in the center of the room, which dawned the look of Junko Enoshima. Above it hung a neon sign with the words "Cosplay Danganronpa" in lights.

A sudden thud was heard as the Sayaka Maizono puppet fell to the ground and was positioned and decorated in a way that looked just like her crime scene. Tsumugi looked in confusion before a baseball flew right past her head and hits the Leon model she was standing next to. 

Best as she could, Tsumugi ran out of the way of the balls, but she was still hit by enough of them to knock her to the ground. She looked up and finds she landed next to the feet of Celestia's figure, which was on fire. Tsumugi hastily got on her feet and saw the marionettes going through the executions or murders of their corresponding character. The only ones still standing were the Junko Enoshima puppet and the models of the Danganronpa survivors, which were surrounding the Junko model.

She ran towards it while attempting to avoid things such as flames, baseballs, spears, saws, bees, and many other horrendous things that came from all of the previous executions. She was barely able to get through, being injured by many of the items. She ran at full force, bulldozing straight through everything in her way. She was bombarded with the swordsmen from Peko's execution, the throwing stones from Kaede's, the flames from Celestia's, and many more.

After a while, she finally wobbled to the center. Her clothes were burnt, her skin was covered with cuts and bruises, and she could barely stand up. She was gasping for air as she fell onto her hands as knees. She looked up at the Junko marionette, which had a wicked grin sloppily painted on its face. In an instant, the Spears of Gungnir came from every direction and impaled both the Junko model and Tsumugi. 

The mastermind gave out one final scream as she looked towards the ceiling, in which the neon sign fell onto her head.

For once, Shuichi didn't feel sick after an execution. He thought he would emote at least some joy at the game being over, but he felt nothing at all.

Then he started crying as he looked back to the hydraulic press, falling to his knees before it, not noticing Monokuma and the Monokubs had been deactivated. All he cared about was the fact Kokichi died a horrific death, and he hadn't been able to stop it.

Maki then looked to the one exisal which was turned on, "Huh?" She kicked it hard enough that the glass broke, and brightened, "Kokichi!" 

Shuichi looked up immediately as he saw Maki take a very pale Kokichi out of the exisal and give him the antidote.

Kokichi's eyes fluttered open, "H...Hey guys. What happened?" Once again, he was grabbed and kissed by Shuichi. Only this time, the Detective was sobbing while kissing.

"I-I thought she killed you! I thought you were dead!" 

"Come on, Saihara-chan. You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm like a splinter—once I'm here, it's hell to make me go away." He looked around, "Kaede?"

"She's gone." Shuichi said, "I...I chose you."

He saw a mixture of emotions in the small boy before he said, "Why?" 

"Isn't it obvious? Because I love you. And you were right...I didn't know Kaede as well as I thought I did. Still, feel bad about it, but you're okay, and that's good." 

Kaito fell to his knees and had a coughing fit. Maki ran over to his side, "Kaito?!"

Kaito sighed, "I-I think this is more than a cold, Maki Roll." 

Shuichi then gasped, "Wait...if the original Hope's Peak arc was real...that means there are other Ultimates out there. Maybe there's an Ultimate Nurse who could help!" 

Maki brightened, scooping Kaito up while Shuichi did the same for Kokichi.

Rantaro led the way, "Well, it's time to go."

**Surviving Students: 7**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next two chapters are fluffy, with one being an epilogue.
> 
> And look! Since this would be Chapter 4, Kaito is still alive!


	9. Chapter 9

Arrival at Jabberwock Island was not as tricky as anticipated. Sure, the paparazzi bombarded them, but Maki managed to shoo them away and was given a private jet straight to the place.

Jabberwock Island was a small archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, a paradise of eternal summer with natural beauty. Jabberwock comprised one small central island and a group of five islands surrounding it.

The resort was developed around the outer islands, and a magnificent administration building was built on the central island. The lobby of the administration building housed a statue representing the island. One moved between the five islands by a ferry boat service. At first, some people requested bridges to be built, but they were refused due to concern for the environment.

Landing, Maki sprinted to the resort still carrying a now motionless Kaito, bursting in,

"Doctor!" She called, startling the sixteen adults eating. There were about ten kids of varying ages, as well.

A man with heterochromia jumped up, followed by a silver-haired man and a woman who seemed to be a nurse.

"H-Hurry," the nurse said, "W-We ne-need to get him to the hospital!"

"Geez," a woman in an orange dress-thing snarked, "Still such a weakling when it comes to this."

"Not the time, Hiyoko," a man with an eyepatch said.

The man with heterochromia and the silver-haired man stayed behind as all the kids left, and the adults went to help Maki and Kaito. 

"Hello, I'm Hajime Hinata," the man with heterochromia said, "This is my husband, Nagito Komaeda. I'm assuming you're survivors of season 53?"

"Yeah." Shuichi said, "And since we ruined the show, that was the final season." Nagito brightened,

"What a wonderfully hopeful day today is! At last, that insult to our story is done for!" Kirumi frowned,

"What?" Hajime sat them down,

"Well, you see...Team Danganronpa didn't exactly ask for permission from either the Future Foundation or us when turning that footage into a television show. We actually tried to sue, but it didn't work too well since people still believe we're killers. Once there became more seasons using innocent kids..." he shuddered. "We don't let our kids watch it, but Naegi, Kirigiri, and Togami always make sure there's a plane ready after each season so we can reunite the survivors with their families. We have foster care here as well, called the Chiaki Nanami program. So if you have nowhere to go, you're always welcome here. Most of the kids who stay are on the other islands. The main island is mostly for the OG crew."

"So tell me about your trip." Nagito said, "I haven't seen seven survivors before!" His eyes widened, "Rantaro?!" Rantaro frowned,

"We've met?"

"Yeah. You might not remember, but since you were a survivor, you were originally brought here. But you decided to go back in the game to find your sisters, who we managed to locate a week after the season started." 

Ryoma frowned, "I thought our backstories were made up."

"They are...partially." Hajime went into the kitchen and brought out some food for them, "The best lies hold a kernel of truth. So anything about your relatives is probably true. From what I've observed, memories are only pushed to the extreme, not entirely fabricated. So say someone is an assassin. That person was probably trained to fight or be in a gang but never had to kill, or kill count was much lower."

"So, what's your talent?" Kirumi asked the happy couple. Nagito grinned,

"My talent isn't much, but I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student."

"More like the Ultimate Bullshit." Hajime muttered, "And I'm the Ultimate Everything. Before you ask, yes. Pornstar is included in that, but I don't that. I don't know why, but that question is _ always asked _." 

Nagito smiled softly, "So, tell me your story? I like hearing the story from the survivors about hope triumphing over despair."

And so they told their story, about the killings and the mastermind doing most of it, and then Kokichi sighed,

"My original plan was to lie and be an asshole until everyone hated me, then say I was the mastermind, then convince someone to kill me in the hydraulic press to create an unsolvable case." Shuichi started crying when he heard that.

To the shock of everyone, Hajime had blanched, and Nagito was holding Kokichi like an infant,

"Hinata-Kun! I found my son!" Hajime sighed,

"That whole plan of yours, Kokichi, has now made my dear husband cherish you and is probably gonna adopt you. He too tried to kill himself to end the killing game."

"Come on, Hajime, I've wanted kids for twenty years! If we can't find his family, can I _ pleeeeeease _ adopt him? He has so much hope!"

Kokichi blushed, "I never thought I would find some guy who wants to adopt me."

"That's Nagito for you," Hajime chuckled fondly. Ryoma frowned,

"You tried to kill yourself in your killing game?"

"Tried to? No. I succeeded. Before you ask, my killing game was virtual reality. That's why everyone from that game survived. Let me see if I can..." he pulled out a DVD, "I have a copy of the original footage from our game. The only reason we have it is to show other survivors that we really did suffer like they did."

They all shrieked when they saw what Nagito had done to himself.

"That..." Shuichi shuddered, "I have no words."

"I had frontocentral dementia and blood cancer, and that really messed up my mental state and decision making. Don't judge me."

"What?!" Kirumi looked him over, "How are you're the Ultimate Lucky Student?"

"That's the thing," Nagito said, sighing, "For every good luck, there is a price of bad luck. So when I became a millionaire, my parents died. When I was accepted into Hope's Peak, I developed dementia. At some point, I got blood cancer, can't remember exactly when, but it was probably during my profoundly regretted time as a Remnant of Despair. But one Mikan could diagnose me, she was also able to cure me, being the Ultimate Nurse."

Kokichi smiled a bit, "This is pretty easy for you two to tell, isn't it? You've had to do it twice a year for twenty years." Hajime nodded from where he was drinking some orange juice,

"It gets easier. But it's an unspoken agreement around here to never judge others, especially for their trauma. Playground equipment's been used for murder, and Monokuma has made some weird executions. Is there any quirk I should know about you guys?"

"I..." Shuichi sighed, "Have been having trouble with despair and also can't go a full night without vomiting at least twice. Unless, of course, I'm cuddling Kokichi, but..."

"Understandable." Hajime assured, before turning to the phone on the wall and answering it, "Mikan? Oh. Okay. I'll bring them down." He put the phone down, "Kaito is ready for visitors."

Everyone brightened and ran to the hospital. Kokichi was being carried this time by Nagito, who seemed to be serious when he said he was adopting the young prankster.

In Kaito's hospital room, the Astronaut was smiling and crying a bit, hugging Maki.

Mikan turned to the group, "H-He had a bad case o-of lung cancer. B-But I was a-able to r-remove the tumors a-and heal over the wounds. W-With bed rest a-and some medicine, K-Kaito will be fine."

To the shock of the survivors, Maki ran at the nurse and hugged her, crying,

"Thank you. Just...thank you." Mikan smiled softly and returned the hug. 

Kaito opened his mouth, then gestured to his chest.

"You can't speak?" Shuichi asked. Kaito shook his head and grabbed a notepad,

_Damage to my throat from the constant coughing, plus it's hard right now to get enough air out to speak loudly. I'll be back to myself in no time though ;D_

The man with the eyepatch came in, "Kids, may I please get your names? I'm going to go get the Kuzuryu clan looking for your families. And yes, you do have the same names as you did at birth."

Kokichi's stomach tightened at the idea of Shuichi being taken away from him. He had a feeling he didn't have anywhere to go, but Shuichi had his uncle most likely.

Shuichi sighed, "I...I want to stay if Kokichi is staying. I'm not leaving him. But my name is Shuichi Saihara."

"Kirumi Tojo."

"Rantaro Amami."

"Ryoma Hoshi."

"Kokichi Oma." 

"Maki Harukawa."

Kaito wrote his name down, and the man took note.

"Thanks. Of, I'm Fuyuhiko, by the way." He left, and Hajime took Nagito out of the room, to let the survivors have some time to themselves.

OoOoO

Kokichi gasped as the adoption forms were signed. His parents, it turned out, had died a long time ago in a car crash. He had been one of the kids in the orphanage Maki was at, and had had a little band of ten kids he was closer to. 

So here he was, with Nagito and Hajime as his new dads. 

His new room was a plain for now, but there was a promise of updates. But he'd been given a bag full of prank supplies, as his gift for his missed birthday, which passed during the killing game.

And so, after three weeks and Kaito got out of the hospital, he finally got to do his prank he had wanted to do before getting blasted out the window.

"KOKICHI OMA-HINATA I'LL KILL YOU!" 

The shout rang through the entire dining room as Kaito stormed in with blue teeth and baby powder all over his face. 

Sonia was the only one polite enough to try, hiding her laughter. Gundham pulled out one of his hamsters,

"It appears the forsaken one's child has been blessed by the devil himself." Kokichi laughed as he drank his panta. Kaito growled, pointing at the young prankster,

"I challenge you, Kokichi Oma-Hinata, to a prank war!" Kokichi sent Kaito a trademark creepy smile,

"You challenge me, Astronaut, the Ultimate Prankster? Alright then, I accept. Father, will you help me as Ultimate Prankster 2?" He gestured to Hajime, who laughed and nodded. Nagito crossed his arms,

"I'll help too!" Shuichi joined in. Kaito looked very offended and was joined by Maki, Rantaro, and Ibuki. 

Akane laughed, "This is gonna end in disaster." Ryoma and Kirumi nodded their agreements, neither wanting to get involved since Kaito just challenged the Ultimate Luck, Ultimate Prankster, Ultimate Everything, and Ultimate Detective.

A little girl with black and grey hair sat in Sonia's lap, "Mommy, I want to join too!" A blonde boy joined his sister, "Please, Mommy!" Sonia turned to Gundham, who shrugged.

Hiyoko stood up, "Jabberwock Island Prank War!" 

Everyone cheered.

OoOoO

Shuichi was sitting on the edge of a cliff, watching the sunset, his mind caught up in memories of the killing game. The others could distract themselves, but he couldn't because he hadn't taken the chance to save Kaede either. It could have been both of them safe, but he was so stunned by her refusal of Kokichi that he hadn't stopped it.

Kirumi and Ryoma had been reunited with their families. It was very tearful, especially to see Ryoma did have people who had been worried about him.

Rantaro was reunited with his sisters, but their parents were drug addicts, so the group of thirteen all stayed on the island.

Maki was an orphan, but Kaito's grandparents had come to pick him up. Because Kaito wanted to stay with Maki, his grandparents supported him and visited every other weekend.

Shuichi himself had cut ties with his family. His uncle had died a couple years ago, apparently, and his parents were neglectful. They had come to pick him up, but only loved him because he was now famous for ending the killing game. He'd been taken in by Fuyuhiko and Peko until he turned eighteen in a couple months.

Hajime and Nagito had also made him promise that he would protect Kokichi and love him endlessly. It had been the most comfortable promise ever. 

But from time to time, he needed to come up here to be depressed without the others seeing. He knew they all struggled with the memories, Kokichi less so than everyone since he had been comatose for the bulk of the deaths, but he was traumatized too.

"Her name was Chiaki." Shuichi turned and saw Hajime sit down next to him, "Let me guess, you formerly had a female love interest which you couldn't stop her execution?" Shuichi's eyes widened,

"Y-Yeah. How did you..."

"Ultimate Everything, remember? Meaning I can read your body language and quickly figured it out. You still feel guilty for what happened, even though you love your current partner more than anything."

"I keep thinking there was something I could have done to stop this. But anything different and Kokichi could have died."

"I watched Chiaki die twice. She was kind of the leader of the group. The first time, I had lost my memory and didn't remember her until she was dead. The second time was the execution, and three guesses how that went."

"Badly?"

"I will never look at Tetris the same." He sighed, "It took five years for me to get over her, and I founded the Chiaki Nanami Program to help kids who suffered through killing games. The guilt never fades, but use it as motivation to help others, and carry on her wish. And she would want you to be happy, not pining after her forever."

"I've gotten over her romantically. Kokichi is my everything. But you're right. I need to motivate others to move forward." Hajime grinned,

"Better. You know, I could use your help. As the Ultimate Detective around here, you could be of great help. I want to expand the program to all kids in orphanages to help them find homes. That way, kids like Maki aren't brought into gangs and trained to kill."

Shuichi nodded, "I'd really like that, to use my detective skills to help kids, instead of revealing the truth in murder cases." Hajime ruffled Shuichi's hair,

"Do you want to stay here, or do you want to join Nagito and Kokichi for dinner?"

Shuichi smiled, "I'd love to join you for dinner."

They left, unaware of the ghosts of Chiaki Nanami and the real Kaede Akamatsu smiling at them.


	10. Chapter 10

"Son! Wake up!" Kokichi groaned as Nagito shook him awake. It had been five years since the killing game, so both Kokichi and Shuichi were twenty-two. Kokichi still lived with his adopted parents because he loved them.

"Dad, what do you want?"

"Son, it's your wedding day! We have to get you ready. I'm not handing off my only son with bedhead! And we need to get you ready because it's not like your bridesmaids are gonna come into your room and get you ready." 

Kokichi instantly snapped awake at the mention of his wedding. How had the depths of slumber made him forget the most important day of his life?!

He shot out of bed like a bullet and was at the vanity, getting cleaned up. His white suit was on a hanger because mannequins still gave him PTSD with how much they reminded him of Tsumugi. Nagito shook it out and helped him into it, before weaving flowers into his violet hair,

"What? Sonia taught me how to do this, and it looks cute. I'm kind of a sucker for weddings, with the great hope they represent." Kokichi watched his Dad work, then there was a knock on the door as the whole of DICE barreled in. 

Yes, they had found each and every member of DICE, his small band of pranksters who lived with him at the orphanage.

Nami ran over and squealed at the sight of him, "You're so pretty, leader!" Kokichi blushed,

"What's Shuichi doing right now?"

"Trying to memorize his vows, so he doesn't stutter." Yagami answered, "And he asked me to give you this." He gave Kokichi a large bottle of grape panta with a bow and a note attached to it.

_My dearest Kokichi,_

_I'm excited to see you. These next few hours when I'm not allowed to see the bride are torture <3_

_Saihara-chan_

"Awww! That's so cute." Tenko ran in.

Explanation on why Tenko was back: Necronomicons were very rare, but could be bought on the black market. So Kokichi did the smart thing and had his Ultimate Bullshit dads do the ordering, so they got a buy one get five free deal. Kazuichi was working with Miu to bring back Kiibo, and it had worked, the robot had returned, excluding memories, but he had the same personality. 

They'd tried to bring Kaede back, but she had said when they spoke to her spirit that she preferred watching from above to see her wish fulfilled. 

Everyone from the killing game except Angie and Tsumugi was back. Even Kiyo was back, though he'd been thrown into therapy to help him healthily cope with the loss of his sister, who had apparently used her sickness to manipulate him into doing her bidding completely. He was getting help, and no longer killed to "send friends to sister."

Himiko came in as well. It had been an unspoken agreement that Kokichi was basically the bride here, so the bridesmaids all flocked to him.

"You look magical, Kokichi." Kokichi blushed,

"Thanks."

...

Shuichi was panicking.

Today was the most important day of his life, the day he was going to marry the boy he loved. What if something went wrong? What if he stuttered or said the wrong thing and ruined everything? All the worst-case scenarios were flying through his head.

"Relax," Hajime said with a laugh as he moved decoration, using his power as Ultimate Wedding Planner to make everything perfect, "I had wedding day jitters too when I married Nagito. The trick was to remember you survived a killing game together, and have comfort in knowing that if you can survive the psychopath that is your beloved, you can survive anything. The only purpose of the ceremony is to announce your love to the world. You proposed in front of all of us. You're basically doing the same thing right now."

"Need I remind you it took three months' worth of panic attacks to finally stammer out the question?" 

"True, but I have a feeling he'll start to make sure you are comfortable." The bells rang, "Oh! The ceremony is to begin soon!"

The others strolled to the ceremony. Kiibo hugged Shuichi, 

"I'm happy for you, Shuichi." Shuichi grinned, 

"I'm happy for me too. Terrified, but happy." 

And with that, he got to his place, with Hajime giving him smiles since he was also the Ultimate Minister. Bells started playing, and Shuichi swore his heart stopped beating when he laid eyes on Kokichi, whose face was hidden behind a semi-transparent veil, pink and white flowers in his hair, complimenting his violet hair and white suit. He was clinging to Nagito's arm, clearly nervous.

When Kokichi got to the alter, Shuichi removed the veil, revealing a radiant smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and robots, and hamsters," Hajime went on, "And dark lords, and yakuza, actually screw it, I'm not gonna list all the crazy things we are." Laughs from everyone, "We are gathered here today to tie a knot," he pulled out a rope and tied a knot in it, "I'm no boy scout, but that's a knot." he threw the rope to the ground, getting more laughs. Shuichi could tell his soon-to-be father-in-law was doing this to relax him.

Hajime then got serious, "But in all seriousness, we are gathered here today to witness the union of two souls in marriage. Anyone who sees any reason for these two to not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"I don't care what any of you say! I'm already saying I do!" Kokichi snapped to them all, grabbing Shuichi's face and kissing him, which was quickly returned.

Hajime blinked a few times, before shrugging, "By the power vested in me by...well...by me, I guess, I now pronounce you lawfully wedding husbands."

Everything went in a blur for Shuichi after that, with people congratulating him, or admiring Kokichi. Gonta had wanted to bring butterflies, but Kokichi was so afraid of bugs they'd decided against it for the time being.

Finally, the slow dance came, and Shuichi held out his hand to his new husband,

"May I have this dance, violet?" Kokichi grinned,

"Of course, Saihara-chan." 

And so, they started the dance as Ibuki played some soft music. 

"You look lovely." He whispered, and Kokichi blushed, his head gently pressed against Shuichi's chest,

"Thanks." He sighed blissfully, "I can't believe we're here right now. I wonder what I did to deserve this. To deserve you." Shuichi held him tighter,

"You were yourself, and that's all I could ever ask for." 

Kokichi smiled, "You know, Mikan was talking with the Ultimate OB/GYN about a new experiment so you and I could have kids if we wanted, start a family sometime." Shuichi laughed,

"I didn't think you were the type to be willing to go through that."

"Oh god no, they're test-tube babies. No way in hell I'm lugging around an eight-pound kid for nine months and pushing it out, no way." 

"Well, I have wondered what a kid of ours would look like."

"Can we name it Panta? It's a gender-neutral name." That had Shuichi almost crying from laughter,

"We'll see, Ouma-Kun. We'll see. After all, we have our whole future ahead of us now."

Kokichi looked up, "To whatever's end?" He was kissed in response,

"To whatever's end."


End file.
